It Had To Be You
by Seyary-Minamoto
Summary: Modern AU. Sokka's High School days would be quite enjoyable if it weren't for that girl who makes his life miserable every time they cross paths. Nevertheless, Sokka forgets his high school sorrows every afternoon by playing MMORPGs with his online friend, Gilded Fire. But the chance for them to meet in person arises. Is Sokka ready to discover Gilded Fire's true identity...?


**Alright, so here's one of my Tumblr one-shots, now uploaded here by popular demand! This is a one-shot, but a pretty long one... so is it a long shot? AHAHAHAHA okay, I'll shut up, my jokes are worse than Sokka's...**

**Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy it, because I sure loved writing it! :)**

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><p>High school sucked. Or at least, that was what most people thought.<p>

But Sokka never really hated school itself. He liked it, actually. Teachers were a pain for most people, but not so much for him, for he got along with them quite well. He loved Science and Math, and he was pretty good at Gym, even. He was one of the top students in the whole school.

But there was one thing he couldn't stand: the popular kids.

And it wasn't even all the popular kids. It was that particular one who always found it in her to annoy him in whichever possible way. She wasn't a bully, at least not in the conventional way, but she sure was irritating. She didn't shame him in public, like the bullies in movies who embarrassed their victims just to get everyone else's approval, nor did she make gestures of utter revulsion towards him, but she still took her sweet time to send fancy insults his way, or to mock him about his appearance or his choice in friends… for apparently, willingly being friends with her older brother had turned him into the biggest loser she had ever met.

But even if it had started through his friendship with Zuko, the feud between this girl and Sokka became more personal every day. If she could get away with it, she'd bring her escort of friends with her to sit at the table where Sokka's friends usually sat during lunch. They claimed, of course, that they had gotten there first so they'd better scram, which unnerved Sokka without fail on each occasion. This recurrent problem had caused him to argue quite viciously with his personal tormentor quite a few times, who, judging by the smirk on her face, relished in his anger.

She would also drop post-its inside his locker during lunch, little letters with the apparent purpose of being insultingly motivational: "Looking less peasant-like today, did you finally learn how to combine your clothes or was it some lucky mistake?", "I didn't catch the overwhelming scent of your deodorant today when I passed you by. I hope it means you realized that won't enhance your manliness, because it won't", "Congratulations for being in the Honor Roll again, but since that doesn't seem to be a challenge for you anymore, how about you try to be both in the Honor Roll and to have a social life at the same time?", amongst many other messages. Sokka couldn't help but wonder when would she run out of post-its, and how did she find something new to write him every day. And why, why couldn't she pester someone else for a change…?

He was sick of her. He was so tired of having to put up with her arrogance, her cruel demeanor, her constant patronizing of everyone else…

What did she care about him anyways? What sort of pleasure did she find in pestering him? And why did it bother her so much that he didn't have that much of a social life? He had friends, after all. Sure, he wasn't invited to any parties, and neither were the rest of his friends, but saying he had no social life because of that was ridiculous. Human beings were social by nature, and socializing had nothing to do with parties, or group outings, or catching venereal diseases because of reckless underage sex… so what was the problem if he decided to socialize through the Internet instead? What was the big deal if he chose to talk with people with similar interests to his own instead of getting drunk with people he wanted nothing to do with?

Well, it wasn't as though she could know he had Internet friends, but if she ever found out she'd probably mock him for it. She surely was the kind of people who thought it was impossible to have a proper friendship through the Internet. But she would be wrong to think so.

He had made friends through the net, plenty of them in the recent years. And while most of them were miles apart, the bond between them was as real as any. Surely was much more than Azula would be able to say about her own, shallow friends…

Sokka scowled as he closed his locker at the end of the day. He shouldn't think about Azula, not at all. He should just focus on the better things about his life, yes… but naturally, the universe loved to make fun of him. Because just as he tried to push all thoughts of her away from his mind, he noticed the very girl he been fuming about was approaching him down the hall. Her two best friends were flanking her, as they always did, and the happy one jumped to greet him, as she always did.

"Well, isn't it the cutest nerd ever!" Ty Lee squealed. He scowled as soon as his eyes settled on the leader of the group, who gave him the most unpleasant smirk she could muster.

"Cute? For crying out loud, Ty Lee," said Mai, grimacing. "What's so cute about him?"

"I've always suspected Ty Lee needs glasses," Azula said, with a dramatic sigh, "But alas, I suppose it should be good news that someone finds you attractive, huh, Sucker?"

Sokka twitched, his jaw set as he glared at her. He hated it when she called him that.

"So… how's our favorite loser doing on this fine day?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"I was doing just fine until you three showed up, if you really want to know," he said, shrugging.

"Oh, gee, that hit me where it hurts," she replied, prompting him to roll his eyes as she made an overly dramatic gesture. Mai chuckled next to her, and Ty Lee giggled happily. "Well, if anything, I guess congratulations are in order."

"C-congratulations…?" Sokka repeated, warily.

"Why, of course," said Azula, smiling. "It's the first time in over a year that you seem to be wearing a new shirt!"

Sokka scowled at that, as Ty Lee clapped happily and Mai nodded, apparently only taking note of Azula's observation now.

"So kind of you to notice," he grunted. "It's impressive, though. You keep tabs on what shirts I wear? Is someone stalking me, by any chance?"

"Oh, dear, if I were stalking you I'd probably be greatly disappointed by how boring your life must be," she said, smiling condescendingly at him. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's the truth of it. It's just a bit hard not to notice how few clothes you have when you only ever wear the same five shirts through the week. Do you even wash them?"

"It's a very valid question," Mai pointed out.

"For fuck's sake…" said Sokka, huffing.

"Now, now, I'm only asking for your own good," said Azula, raising her hands in a gesture of innocence. "But the new shirt is definitely an improvement, I'll say. It's not even nerdy. Kudos to you."

"Thank you," he said, as sarcastically as possible. "Now, will you stop being so irritating and…?"

"Now I look at him, though…" said Azula, leaning towards Mai. "I guess you were right, he must shave the sides of his head after all. He's got some hair growing out of there right now, from the looks of it."

"What the…? Of course I shave it!" he exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief. "What the hell did you think I did to it?"

"Well, I personally suspected you had some strange case of baldness," said Azula, at which her friends laughed again. "I'd never seen any hair growing out of those areas, so you can hardly blame me for thinking so. It's odd, though, that you're not really bald. I was thinking that was the reason why you couldn't get yourself a girlfriend, but I guess it must be something else…"

Sokka gritted his teeth, glaring wildly at Azula as her friends laughed before stomping up to her, ending up inches away from her. She didn't even flinch.

"You know what?" he said, angrily. "You're the last person who has any right to say a damn thing about me not having a girlfriend, because guess who doesn't have a boyfriend? Oh, that's right, it's you!"

Azula raised an eyebrow while Mai and Ty Lee stopped laughing. None of them interrupted Sokka, though, for he clearly wasn't finished.

"And you don't have one while having the social life that apparently I lack!" he said, looking at her in confusion. "Isn't that weird? Oh, wait, it's not. Because no guy in his right mind would be able to put up with your company for over ten minutes without ending up wanting to kill himself!"

Sokka wondered if he had said too much for a moment, when he thought he saw some pain in his eyes upon her words, but as soon as he saw it, it was gone. She closed her eyes and stepped forward, patting his shoulder and looking at him condescendingly, again.

"The only reason I don't have a boyfriend, Sucker, is because I don't want one," she said, smirking at him. "And that's the difference between you and me. I don't have a relationship out of choice, while you don't have one because you have no other choice"

"What would you know?" he growled.

"Oh, I know," she said, again with that condescending look. "But don't worry. Surely one day you'll become a successful man and girls will start flocking their way towards you… but that day is not today. And I'll keep making the most of that."

"Oh, really?" he asked, glaring at her.

"Really," she replied, dropping her hand and nodding in his direction. "Have a good day, Sucker."

The three girls walked past him, and he was left glaring after Azula, his teeth gritted. Oh, how he hated her… how could she act so high and mighty all the time? And why, why did she have to pick on him, of all people?

He stormed off through the streets, frowning heavily as he made his way back home, his head full of vicious thoughts that always led him to Azula. At times he wished she'd forget he existed altogether, because being invisible would be so much better than for her to acknowledge his existence in the way she did…

"Oh, Sokka," Kya said, lifting her gaze from the book she was reading when she heard her son had arrived home. "How was your day?"

"Meh," he grumbled, stomping his way upstairs without another word. His mother stared after him, an eyebrow raised before she returned to the book she was reading.

Sokka slammed the door to his room and tossed his bag to the side, heading towards his computer and turning it on immediately. There was no way to get Azula to forget about him, apparently… but he had his own means to forget about her, if only for a little while. If only while hanging with his online friends…

His computer logged into the chatting platform he frequented, but the one person he really wanted to talk with wasn't online yet. He sighed and opened up Tumblr, scrolling down countless posts and reblogging a few of them until a small announcement appeared at the lower-right corner of his screen: Gilded_Fire was online.

He almost jumped with excitement when he saw her username, and a happy grin appeared on his face. He clicked on the notification eagerly, but then he froze where he was. No, no, he couldn't just talk to her right away, she'd realize he had been waiting for her. But what was so bad about that, really? It wasn't as though she'd know he was clingy and needy and crazy about her if he talked to her as soon as he saw her, would she…?

Of course she would, he thought to himself, sighing and dropping his face on his hands. Well, he'd wait for one minute. One minute was reasonable enough, right? He could wait for that long, and if she didn't reply then it meant she was busy, of course… it wouldn't mean she was annoyed by his weird behavior, of course not…

But then he almost jumped off his chair when a message he hadn't sent appeared in the chatbox. The smile on his face broadened further as he shot his hands up in the air, beaming, his paranoid thoughts forgotten.

"She talked to me first…" he said, feeling so elated by that fact that he forgot to read the message altogether. "She talked to me first, ahaha!"

After celebrating briefly he decided to answer her message right away. And he read it, he realized she wasn't just sending a happy greeting his way…

Gilded_Fire: OMG, I'm already at the gigapause and I can't even…! Why did you ever tell me to read Homestuck?! You're evil!

Sokka chuckled before typing in his own response, all memories of his lousy day at school forgotten thanks to that single message.

BoomerAwesome: So sorry, but I needed someone to suffer along with me! XD And you do the same thing to me all the time with those incomplete fics you've recommended me, so you have no right to complain.

Gilded_Fire: As if. The ones I've sent you aren't in some indefinite hiatus, are they?

BoomerAwesome: Now, now, no need to be so mad ^^U Remember how you told me you were so sad when InuYasha's anime ended but then you were crazy excited about The Final Act? It's the same thing!

Gilded_Fire: Like hell it is TT_TT with InuYasha I still had the manga.

BoomerAwesome: Huh, that is true. Then… sorry? :'D

Gilded_Fire: Oh, you'll be sorry indeed, believe me ¬_¬ Let's log into Dannan and let me set your ass on fire a couple of times. Once I've burned you enough, I will most gladly accept your apology ^^

BoomerAwesome: Eh ._. welp, I guess I asked for it xD Alright, alright, let's get going!

Sokka couldn't stop smiling as he logged into the game, choosing their favorite server and waiting for the MMORPG to load.

He was a level 97 Hero, while Gilded_Fire was a level 93 Pyromancer. His character had been a warrior, and she had started out as a sorcerer, but once they advanced enough through the game they had the chance to choose a second class. Not many Heroes and Pyromancers joined forces, because their classes were natural rivals, but the two of them thought it was quite handy to do so. More often than not, being in a party together made them capable of fighting monsters that were even twenty levels above them. And fighting bosses together never failed to be thrilling, as they exchanged ideas for strategies on how to defeat them, sharing their potions and helping one another in whatever way they could.

They weren't members of any guilds, but Sokka didn't think they needed to be. They were more than fearsome together, after all. The sense of camaraderie between them, despite the fact that they belonged to opposing nations, simply felt right.

His avatar materialized, a tall, dark-skinned warrior equipped with a halberd and twin daggers as his secondary weapons. His armor was dark and eerie, for it was imbued with magical properties. Soon, another character appeared next to him: it was a pale girl with dark hair, wearing the flowing robes of the magicians. And since she was a pyromancer, her clothes were like dancing fire. The very first time she had equipped them he had been incapable of holding back a compliment, and he had been so thrilled when she had taken it well… ah, he was an idiot for feeling this way about her and he knew it. She might be an old, fat geezer preying on him, for all he knew… but he couldn't control his attachment to Gilded_Fire. She was simply amazing. At times he thought she was too good for him, and he wondered why she chose to spend her time with him, of all people… but he would indulge in their wonderful friendship for as long as he could.

Their personal chatbox in the game popped up, interrupting Sokka's mindless staring at Gilded_Fire's avatar. He smiled as he read the message he had just received from her.

Gilded_Fire: Alright, then, time to kick your ass. Please turn around.

BoomerAwesome: Huh? Wait, you LITERALLY want to set my ass on fire?

Gilded_Fire: Well, duh! :D why wouldn't I? C'mon, we don't have all day, there are probably some time-limited quests we should get started on before we can't make it.

BoomerAwesome: Ooooh, well, fine… ;_;

He turned his Avatar around and chuckled as she started attacking him. His HP bar lowered a little bit, but for some reason he couldn't be bothered by the fact. Other players passed them by and stopped to look at them, dumbfounded, but Sokka did nothing other than laugh as his partner continued to burn him until his HP bar was half empty.

Gilded_Fire: And I guess that will do. Thanks for cooperating :) you're the best 3

He stared at the words with a goofy grin before composing himself, knowing he had to act natural, to keep her from realizing the little heart-shaped emoticon meant much more to him than it was intended to.

BoomerAwesome: Anything for you, my lady, but now I need to jump into a fountain, if you don't mind, or else my BURNED status won't disappear, ehehe…

Gilded_Fire: Ah, woops. I thought you were wearing a burnproof outfit.

BoomerAwesome: Nay, I would have changed into it but you assaulted me right away. I know you can't get your hands off me, so I don't blame you, really… I'm just that hot, after all. Especially right now. LITERALLY hot, get what I'm saying?

Gilded_Fire: FFS, jump into the nearby river if that's what it'll take for you to stop with the ridiculous jokes.

Sokka laughed regardless and jumped off to the river, followed closely by his friend. She waited as the magical water in the river healed him, and he smiled goofily as he stared at her avatar.

"I wonder if you're this pretty in real life, eh…?" he muttered thoughtlessly, glad she couldn't know he was zooming into her face.

Gilded_Fire: Hey, hey… look at this!

BoomerAwesome: What's the matter?

Gilded_Fire: The Blazing Azure Flame Tunic is a reward in one of today's quests! OMG, we have to do it! I need that Tunic! It's so expensive in the stores… pleeeease, pleeeease, can we go get it?

Sokka raised an eyebrow and smirked, not used to her asking him for favors like this. He chuckled and shrugged as he opened up his quest log as well and found the one that offered the item she wanted… to find there was a particular catch about this event that she had conveniently not mentioned.

BoomerAwesome: Uh… Gil? I'd gladly go with you and all, but you saw what kind of event it is, right?

Gilded_Fire: Oh, yeah. Mind if we get married?

His eyes widened and he stared at the question in utter disbelief. She said WHAT?

His fingers trembled as he typed in a response and erased it, and typed in another one to erase it again. Was she serious?!

Gilded_Fire: Well, that is, if you don't mind marrying me, of course.

He shook his head at that and looked at the screen with determination, finally knowing what to say.

BoomerAwesome: Wow, I'd gladly marry you, but here I thought you'd like another magician better than a nasty warrior… our classes are natural rivals, after all.

Gilded_Fire: Oh, of course I'd like a magician like myself, but since I don't see one nearby, you'll have to do for now. Do you mind? ;)

Sokka stared at the screen in disbelief, a wild smile on his face. This was by far the craziest thing they had ever done… even though it hardly should mean anything, it wasn't like they were getting married in real life, but to him, it meant everything. The girl he liked, and had never met before, had asked him to marry her. He only wished it had been him to ask her, but he knew he wouldn't have had the guts. How was he to know she'd agree to marry him?

BoomerAwesome: Well, I sure mind, of course. You'd just marry me because there's nobody better nearby? That hurts my feelings, woman! D:

Gilded_Fire: xDDDDD oh, come on, I really wouldn't have married anyone else. I'm asking you because I know I can trust you, silly.

BoomerAwesome: D'aaawww, silly? You're already treating me like your husband! :D

Gilded_Fire: You think? xD well, you'd better ask me to marry you properly now or else there'll be no point to this, you know?

BoomerAwesome: Okay, okay… just a sec.

Sokka breathed out heavily before composing the cheesiest, most embarrassing sentence he had ever sent her way.

BoomerAwesome: My dearest flame of my life, Princess of my heart, my beloved Gilded_Fire… will you do me the honor to become my wife?

And with that, he sent her the marriage request, his heart thumping as he waited for her response, despite already knowing it would be positive.

Gilded_Fire: Oh, of course I will, my studmuffin of a hubby! How spontaneous of you to ask! :D

He laughed out loud at that, staring at the screen with a dreamy smile as the game informed him that he was now married to Gilded_Fire. Oh, if only someone had told him earlier that he would marry her today, he would have been in a much better mood through the whole day…

And he sure was in a better mood the next day. There was a broad grin on his face as he walked down the halls with Aang, who, naturally had asked him about why he was in such a good mood as they went to lunch. Sokka had explained the situation, and Aang smiled sympathetically, already used to hearing Sokka talk about his best online friend.

"I just can't even… damn, seriously, I… she married me! She's married to me!" he squealed happily.

"Yeah, I got that," said Aang, chuckling. "Did you get the item she wanted, though?"

"Oh, yeah, we did," said Sokka, smiling. "And all the while she kept calling me hubby. I mean, I get that she was doing it sarcastically, but still! This is such a breakthrough! I thought she only saw me as a friend, and would never see me as more than that, but I guess this means…!"

"Means what?" someone else asked, approaching them. Aang smiled at Zuko and waved at him, while Sokka merely showed him his happy grin. Zuko raised an eyebrow. "What's got you so cheerful?"

"I got married!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming.

"Don't take offense, he didn't invite me either," said Aang, shaking his head as Zuko stared at Sokka in confusion.

"Uh… come again?" he said, as they entered the cafeteria and headed towards their favorite table. Luckily, Azula hadn't reached it before them today. Toph, Katara and Suki were sitting at it, talking animatedly as the boys approached.

"Don't listen to Aang, he's a goof. I just got married yesterday in Dannan," Sokka explained, as they took their seats.

"Oh? Is that why you've been in such a good mood since then?" Katara asked, teasingly.

"Well, if you must know, yeah, but I was talking to Zuko," said Sokka, blushing a little as Suki as well looked at him inquisitively.

"Wow, married? To whom?" she asked.

"To his Gilded Flamey girl, I bet," said Toph, snickering. "He keeps talking about her all the time, after all. Well, if it's a 'her', to begin with."

"Imagine if you were married to some weirdo, ehehe…" said Aang, chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah, believe it or not, I've thought about it, but I'm pretty sure she's an actual girl," said Sokka, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You seem really convinced," said Zuko, raising an eyebrow. "How would you know, though? Do girls even play stuff like that?"

"Heh, in Gildy's favor, I assure you I'd play it if I could," said Toph, putting her hands behind her head. Sokka scowled at Zuko.

"You don't really think girls don't play video games, do you?" said Sokka, frowning. "Because that's ridiculous. Sure they do."

"Well, fine, maybe they do, but how do you know you actually are dealing with a girl, huh?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you know about her, really?"

"That's a good question," said Katara, nodding. "Where does she live?"

"Eh… I've never asked," said Sokka, blinking blankly.

"You've never asked?" Aang said, surprised. "Why not?"

"W-well… because knowing my luck, she probably lives at the other end of the planet," Sokka sighed.

"Yeah, no," said Aang tapping his chin with a finger. "I mean, if she gets to play with you all afternoon, that means she's probably in a similar timezone to yours… so that means she's probably somewhere in America, if anything."

"Well, that's neat," said Toph, smiling. "The question is… how far are you willing to drive to meet her, huh, Meathead? If she lives at Patagonia…"

"Oh, yeah, of course she lives there," said Sokka, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "And besides, it's not like we'll 'meet', even if we happen to live in the same continent…"

"But if you do, you could meet after all," Suki said, shrugging. "I mean… what if she lives in the States?"

"It's a pretty big country," Sokka said, pouting. "Even if I got that lucky, she's bound to be in the East Coast…"

"Well, you won't know unless you ask," said Suki.

Sokka frowned and wondered if it would be a good idea after all. Gilded_Fire was a blast to hang with, but what if she took personal questions badly? He usually didn't ask her much more than how her day had been, because they soon dedicated themselves to Dannan, which made him forget completely about their real lives. By then, it was only BoomerAwesome and Gilded_Fire.

"And how did you do in your Chemistry test, Sokka? The one you studied like crazy for?" Katara asked suddenly, bringing him back to reality briefly.

"Ah, that test?" he asked, smirking before pulling the paper out of his backpack. "I aced it!"

"Would you look at that, A+," said Aang, smiling.

"Oh, I'd look at it, but since I can't…" Toph said, at which the mood at the table grew a little darker. Yet she simply chuckled at their reaction.

"W-well, it's an A+, that's all you need to know," said Sokka, smiling weakly.

"Oooh, an A+? My, my, that's a surprise…"

The female voice uttering those words behind Sokka made him stiffen and grimace as soon as he placed who it belonged to.

"Ugh, Azula…" Zuko groaned, as his sister smirked down at Sokka, who scowled before turning towards her.

"You've got to be surprised indeed," Sokka growled. "When was the last time you got an A+? Back at Kindergarten, maybe, when you weren't investing every second of your life into ruining everyone else's?"

"Ah, but ruining lives is just so much fun," Azula said, sighing dramatically before smirking at Sokka, who scowled more. "I have seen my fair share of A+'s on my tests, if you really must know, but I guess mine are worth more, seeing how I still manage to have a life while acing exams…"

"As if," said Sokka, rolling his eyes.

"Azula, please," said Katara, looking at her with irritation. "Can't you just leave my idiot brother alone?"

"Oh, then should I bother you instead?" Azula snickered. Yet as soon as she said that, Mai and Ty Lee beckoned her to join them at another table, far from where this group sat. Azula nodded towards them before turning her attention to this table again. "Ah, well, I suppose I'll just give you all a break for today. See you later, Misfits. Do bask in the glory of your A+, Sucker…"

"Sucker, Sucker…" Sokka repeated, angrily, standing up and turning towards Azula, who was just walking away. "Wanna know what I could totally suck on, you wretched…?!"

Azula stopped on her tracks as he suddenly ran out of words to send her way. She turned again dangerously, and the entire room seemed to grow silent as everyone stared at the pair of them, expecting a massive confrontation between them.

Azula stared at Sokka with her cold amber eyes, her right eyebrow rising slowly. All his bravado disappeared when he realized he had no idea what he was going to say anymore. Something about the sight of her right now was nothing short of terrifying.

"And what exactly did you mean by that?" she asked, daring him to answer the question. Sokka felt the droplets of sweat coating his forehead as he tried to think of a way to answer her question without digging his own grave in the process. "Suck on what, precisely?"

"O-on…" he muttered, knowing his wording hadn't really allowing for much room for improvisation, especially when he had no idea what he was trying to say in the first place. Oh, dear, he sure was in trouble. "O-on…"

"Well?" she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

"O-on… c-coming up with good comebacks…" he muttered, giving up and dropping his head.

And with that, the tension of the scene deflated. The rest of the students returned to their meals as Azula smiled with derision and Sokka felt miserable, wondering why he couldn't get the better of her even when he had the perfect chance to do so…

"No, you're no good at it indeed," she said, smirking. "Let's hope you'll grow out of that one day. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

With that, she left, and Sokka collapsed on his seat again, feeling like a fool. His previously great mood had decayed immediately after this brand new close encounter with his worst enemy. How could she always find a way to ruin his otherwise perfectly enjoyable day?

But even if she ruined it, someone else could fix it no problem, Sokka knew. And he sure hoped his day would brighten up again once he talked with Gilded_Fire, as it always happened…

* * *

><p>BoomerAwesome: Good day, my dear wifey! How goes it? :D<p>

Gilded_Fire: Oh, if it's my favorite hubby! I missed you 3

BoomerAwesome: Your favorite one? What's that supposed to mean?! D:

Gilded_Fire: Oh, woops. I guess the secret's out. Teheee…? :P

BoomerAwesome: No fair! The game doesn't allow polygamous relationships!

Gilded_Fire: And how exactly do you know that, huh, my dear hubby? Tried to get married to someone else while I wasn't watching…?

BoomerAwesome: Uh… no. It's in the rules and guidelines, remember?

Gilded_Fire: Oh… right. Hehe. Sorry for distrusting you, darling. It won't happen again!

BoomerAwesome: Geez, woman, we've only been married for a day and you think I'm already cheating on you?

Gilded_Fire: Ah, well, since all my other husbands don't even take a day to do it, I feared the same thing would happen with you… but see, you're loyal, unlike them. And that's why you're my favorite one :D

BoomerAwesome: ._. who're the others, eh? Eh?! Tell meeee!

Gilded_Fire: x'DDDDD there aren't other husbands, you dummy. I'm just teasing you.

BoomerAwesome: Heh! That'd better be the case!

Gilded_Fire: XD you're such a goof.

BoomerAwesome: But that's why you love me :D

Gilded_Fire: Oh, indeed, studmuffin. That's the only reason why I do, of course.

BoomerAwesome: … wait… you love me?

Gilded_Fire: Of course I do! You think I'd marry someone I don't love?

Sokka stared at the chatbox in amazement, guessing she really didn't mean it but still treasuring the words all the same. He had no idea why talking with her like this was so fun. Something about it just thrilled him in ways he had never experienced before knowing her. Truth to be told, he really wanted to meet her. If being with her was already so amazing online, how great would it be to spend time with her in person?

But of course, first of all he had to find out where she was. And after that he had to find out if he would meet her at all. He only hoped he could find a way to slip in the topic without making it sound weird…

BoomerAwesome: ;w; y-you know, that's the first time you've said something like that. I don't know what I'm feeling now. I think I'll cry…

Gilded_Fire: Owww, Boom, don't be silly. It's nothing to cry about xD

BoomerAwesome: But it's a big deal! Isn't it?

Gilded_Fire: XD maybe, if you want to make it so.

BoomerAwesome: . well, I'm pretty sure it is…

Gilded_Fire: Yeah, well… seeing how we're married now, I suppose I ought to ask how your day treated you, right?

BoomerAwesome: Oh, it was okay, no biggie. I did get an A+ on a test, but that was pretty much the best thing to happen until you admitted you loved me :D

Gilded_Fire: Well, congratulations on your test regardless xD that's pretty cool. Is that the one you were studying for the other day, when you only played for a couple of hours?

BoomerAwesome: Yup. And I aced it ^w^

Gilded_Fire: xD good for you, then.

BoomerAwesome: How about you? Had a nice day, I hope?

Gilded_Fire: Well, I guess so. I almost got myself into an argument with someone, but he backed down before it escalated.

BoomerAwesome: ¬¬ wait, someone's picking on my wifey? Arrrgh, I'll go teach him a lesson or two, bastard…

Gilded_Fire: xD come on, it wasn't a big deal. If anything, I was the one picking on him xD

BoomerAwesome: Ooooh, well… then never mind xD

Gilded_Fire: Still, I'll let you know if I ever need your assistance. We're a team after all, aren't we?

BoomerAwesome: Sure we are! Then I'll let you know too if I ever need yours, ehehe X)

Gilded_Fire: Ah, well I suppose I'll have to live with that… :P

BoomerAwesome: xD well, then, do tell. Where am I supposed to go if you ever need of my assistance? Just so I know how many plane tickets I'll need to buy to get to you xD

He slipped the question as innocently as he could. And he waited, biting his lower lip, wondering how she'd answer him…

Gilded_Fire: Oooooh, someone's getting personal… curious that you'd ask this all of sudden. I sure hope it's not because you're plotting to consummate our marriage… .

BoomerAwesome: Whaaaaat? Of course not! I'm just asking, is all ^^U I mean… we've never asked stuff like this, have we?

Gilded_Fire: Nope, now you mention it. So where do you live?

BoomerAwesome: . you go first.

Gilded_Fire: xD oh, you're a coward. Well… I live in USA.

Sokka smiled and sighed with relief. At least he wouldn't need to use a passport to meet her. Whatever plane ticket he might need to buy wouldn't be all that expensive, hopefully.

BoomerAwesome: :D so do I!

Gilded_Fire: heh, well, good to know xD but I guessed as much, seeing how we seem to be in the same timezone.

BoomerAwesome: xD yeah, that's a good point. So… West Coast?

Gilded_Fire: Yup :P

Sokka sighed again happily. So she wasn't that far away! Maybe they really could meet… well, if she wanted to, of course.

BoomerAwesome: Now, where in the West Coast are you?

Gilded_Fire: Oh, I wonder. Where in the West Coast are you? ;)

Sokka chuckled, guessing it was his turn to give away information.

BoomerAwesome: Well, nowhere other than California.

She was unresponsive for a moment, something that worried Sokka a little. But when she responded, he gasped in disbelief.

Gilded_Fire: Y-you're kidding me, right? We live in the same state?! _

Sokka's smile was so big right now it felt his face wasn't large enough to contain it. Laughing happily, he wrote in his own response.

BoomerAwesome: SERIOUSLY?! :D This is aaaaaaaaaweesome!

Gilded_Fire: xD crap, but this is ridiculous. We've been hanging online for almost a year now, and for all we knew, we'd always been a few hours' drive away from each other?

BoomerAwesome: xD well, depends on where you are exactly. I'm in Santa Monica. You?

Again, Gilded_Fire failed to reply for over a minute. Sokka wondered if she might be calculating how long it'd take for her to drive to the city, but then his overactive imagination started making him think she was actually just plotting on how to abduct him, now that she finally knew where he was… not that he'd mind so much, he thought. If someone could kidnap him, it was her.

Gilded_Fire: Alright. Alright. So I guess there'd be no need for hours of driving, then. Boom, we live in the same city.

Sokka's jaw dropped. This could not be happening.

Now he was the one who looked at her message, incapable to process the information until he shook his head and typed in a hasty response.

BoomerAwesome: You're kidding me. You've got to be kidding me. All this time and you've been in the same city as me?! _ WTF?! We've probably passed each other by tons of times in the streets and we've never even known it!

Gilded_Fire: I know! How ridiculous is that?! xD OMG, this is so weird! I'd never found an Internet friend who lived in the same place as I did before! This is so weird!

BoomerAwesome: I know! This doesn't happen every day! _

Sokka breathed heavily, staring at the screen with even more nervousness. He had to ask her. He simply had to. This was better than anything he could have expected… and if he didn't take this chance now, he'd regret it forever.

BoomerAwesome: Okay, so I have to ask. I… I really have to. Feel free to reject your hubby if you want, I won't take offense xD but… do you want to meet me?

For a speck of a moment he feared she wouldn't say anything. He wouldn't have blamed her if that had been the case. Maybe she just wanted to keep everything online, maybe she didn't like him enough to meet him in person, and it would be perfectly understandable if…

Gilded_Fire: Let's do it.

Sokka smiled wildly again, throwing a punch into the air as he spun around in his office chair, incapable to stop smiling.

"YES!"

* * *

><p>Sokka was breathing heavily as he walked through the entrance of the Santa Monica Place. He wondered if it was obvious that he had tried really hard to look good for today… He had showered before taking off, washing his hair thoroughly and making sure he both looked and smelled good. His hair was still somewhat humid, but it didn't bother him. In fact, he thought it looked good like this. He had tied his hair up, as usual, and he had put on a light blue t-shirt, topped with an open vest of a darker shade of blue. Because, as much as Azula teased him for only owning four shirts, he obviously had more than those. He simply had no need to wear his favorite clothes to go to school. Who was he going to impress there, really?<p>

But he meant to impress Gilded_Fire today. If he couldn't give a good first impression in person, she might stop playing with him altogether… but he shook his head, telling himself to stop worrying. It was going to be a great day, he knew it…

They had decided to meet at the mall's Plaza, and when Sokka arrived he found it wasn't that crowded yet. He had gotten here a bit early, no doubt… a couple of hours early, really, but he'd had nothing better to do. Still, she might have been as eager to meet him as he was to meet her… Maybe she'd be here by now.

But how would he know if she was or wasn't? She had never sent him any pictures of herself, and he hadn't sent her his pictures either. He had no idea what she looked like, let alone what she might be wearing… ah, but it didn't matter. They were kindred spirits. Something told him he'd know her when he saw her.

Still, the clock ticked by and he kept wondering if she wouldn't be one of the girls he kept seeing, who seemed to be waiting for someone in the Plaza as well. None of them looked like how he pictured Gilded_Fire, but maybe it was one of them after all… He took a deep breath and approached the nearest one, who was busy typing away in her cellphone.

"Uh… Gilded Fire?" he asked, with what he hoped was a friendly smile.

The girl looked at him with confusion, as though he had lost his mind. Sokka gulped as she walked away to put some distance between herself and this odd fellow.

"I guess not," he said, shrugging before walking to the next one, who looked a few years older than him. "Uh, hey, are you Gilded Fire?"

"Who?" the girl replied, and he smiled uncomfortably.

"Ehehe, never mind…" he muttered, scratching the back of his head before guessing she probably wasn't here yet.

After a while, he also guessed he might be setting the bar too high. He didn't even know if she was close to his age, she might be a fully grown adult. He seemed to recall she had mentioned school a couple of times, but there were some adults who hadn't finished high school and would finish it once they had time to spare…

But while his logic felt reasonable, he actually felt like quite an idiot when he approached an elderly lady, who was sitting at one of the Plaza's benches, holding her purse tightly in her hand.

"Excuse me, are you Gilded Fire?" he asked without thinking, and he soon regretted asking when the woman looked at him with curiosity.

"Oh?" she said, and he gulped. "Well, aren't you the spitting image of my late husband!"

"Eh… huh?" he said, as the woman stood up and grabbed his cheek, yanking it and making him wince. "Ow!"

"Ah, you're so cute. He was cute when he was that age, too" she said, smiling happily. "So tall and sure of himself…"

"E-eh, well, that's pretty nice and all, ehehe…" he said, smiling awkwardly as the woman grabbed him by the arm now.

"Ah, this is bringing me back to the good old days, when he'd take me to dances with my arm around his, just like this," she said, beaming.

"Ooookay, lady, I really am sorry about your husband but I…" he started, trying to break off her grip on him. He looked around them, fearing people would be looking at them and judging him for being too forceful on an older woman…

But his concern over being judged disappeared when he found the last person he wanted to see in the Plaza.

She looked rather nice, he couldn't fail to notice it. She was wearing a casual, dark red dress, with a black belt around her waist. She also wore black boots with heels that weren't so tall. Her hair was in a half knot, and her bangs framed her devilishly beautiful face… only, she didn't look as devilish as always right now, as she walked up to a college-aged guy to tell him something.

Sokka grimaced and struggled even more to get out of the woman's grasp. He needed to hide away until Azula was gone. If she was here to meet her college boyfriend, despite she had claimed not to have a boyfriend, then she should take off with him at any given moment now. But he needed to hide before she could see him in this embarrassing situation…

To his chagrin, the woman didn't let go, and the guy Azula was talking with walked away from her. Curses. At this rate, she really would see him…

And she did, when she turned around, looking at her surroundings with what resembled anxiety, until her gaze found his. And she grimaced with utter disbelief as he stared at her in dread.

"Crap," he said, and the woman slapped his arm.

"Now, now, no nasty words. My late husband didn't say things like those," she said, and Sokka smiled nervously before finally managing to pull out of her arm's grip while she nagged him.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as good as your late husband, but I have bigger problems than those right now, so if you'd excuse me…"

"Sokka?" he heard Azula say, and while it was a bit of a relief that she hadn't used her favorite nickname for him, her voice still sent shivers of the bad kind down his spine.

"Uh… no?" he said, holding on to his last desperate hope to get Azula off his case. Naturally, it didn't work. She merely looked at him with disbelief, wondering if he really thought that'd work on her.

"Ooooh, do you know this young man?" the woman asked Azula, at which she raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "He's the spitting image of my late husband!"

"Well… that's sad to hear, really," said Azula, with a vicious smirk. Sokka scowled. Of course she'd be a pain. Why would he expect that to change because they weren't in school right now? "My condolences to you for having spent your life with a man remotely resembling to him."

"Oh, no need for condolences of any kind, dear, he's not dead. He's just late. Ah, there he comes!" said the woman, and with that she walked off towards an old man who was carrying ice cream cones in his hands.

Both Azula and Sokka stared at them as they walked away together, Sokka feeling rather relieved that the woman was finally gone.

"That was weird," he muttered.

"Why was she bothering you?" Azula asked, looking at him with confusion.

"Uh… no reason, you know," he said, gulping. He wasn't about to tell Azula, of all people, that he was going to meet an Internet friend today, and that he'd thought the old lady might have been the person he was waiting for. She'd make fun of him to no end "Typical crazy old lady, you know? And really, you're the last person with any right to ask why someone's bothering me."

"Heh, well, I'm just making sure I have no competition," she said, smirking at him before remembering she wasn't here to make fun of her brother's friend. "Why are you here, though? Since when do you go out, to begin with?"

"I… I go out!" Sokka squeaked, annoyed.

"Commuting to school doesn't count," said Azula, smirking at him and he huffed.

"Yeah, well, that's not what I meant!" he exclaimed, blushing. "And it's really none of your business why I'm here. I got here first, so you should just go someplace else!"

"As it turns out, I don't care if you got here first or not. I'm supposed to meet someone here, so I won't be leaving until that person arrives," she said, simply.

"Heh…?" said Sokka, grimacing in horror. "N-no, no, please, can't you go meet your friend or whatever someplace else?"

"Why would I?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"B-because… b-because I'm meeting someone here as well and I'd much rather she doesn't meet you," he said, gritting his teeth as Azula raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Wait a moment… you're meeting someone? Really?" she asked, amused. "Well, that's impressive. Here I thought you couldn't land yourself a date, but I guess I was wrong. Congratulations!"

"I-it's not a date," Sokka said, blushing harder as his innermost thoughts threatened to betray him. Yeah, it probably wasn't a date, but he sure wanted it to be one…

"Well, regardless, it's quite some progress for you," said Azula, smiling. "Ah, I never thought this day would come, but alas, here it is. Do make the most of it, Sokka."

"So today I'm Sokka, huh?" he asked, an eyebrow twitching. "Last I knew, I was Sucker, Loser, Nerd and hell knows what else…"

"Oh, would you rather I call you that instead? Because I can arrange that if you really…"

"Ugh, forget it," he said, sighing in irritation. "C-can't you just call your boyfriend or whatever so he meets you somewhere else?"

"Who said it's a boyfriend?" Azula asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, whatever it is, can't you just change your meeting place? Go over to Bloomingdale's or something…" he said, sighing in irritation and Azula looked around herself again, failing to find who she was waiting for.

"Yeah, no. I'm not going to do that," she said, sitting on one of the available benches.

"Why the hell not?" Sokka asked, almost pleadingly by now.

"Because… I don't think I can reach him right now," Azula replied, pulling out her smartphone and pulling up her online chatting app. As expected, the person she wanted to meet was offline. Which meant he was on his way… hopefully.

"Huh? Come on, just text him with your fancy iPhone or something," said Sokka, groaning. "Or call him, I don't know, but do it."

"Well, why don't you do that with your friend instead?" Azula asked, frowning at him. "Why am I the one who needs to change locations for your comfort, huh?"

"B-because… I don't… have her number," Sokka admitted, at which Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? You're on a blind date or something?" she asked, surprised. "Well… that's interesting. Good luck with that, then"

"Eh, that's not it, not really," he said, sighing. "But it's not your problem what it is anyways. Just… can't you try and…?"

"No," she repeated, and Sokka huffed in irritation.

"Gods, why did I ever expect you to be reasonable…" he grumbled, walking off to sit on another bench.

If they were both lucky, their respective partners would show up eventually, and neither of them would have to worry about anything else. Sokka just hoped Gilded_Fire would show up first… he wondered what Gil might do if he told her about how Azula kept picking on him… would she tell him not to mind her, or would she decide to confront Azula for being so cruel to her online hubby? He chuckled at the idea, but guessed he was just being ridiculous. Surely, when he saw Gilded_Fire in person, he wouldn't even remember Azula existed…

But the time kept passing by, and so did the people who passed through the Plaza. Yet nobody approached either of them. Sokka's embarrassment grew as he wondered just how badly Azula would pick on him if she thought he had been stood up… but when he glanced to his left he realized she was still there, looking at her phone anxiously. Well, that was a new one. He'd never seen Azula showing such a vulnerable expression…

Slowly, he started to wonder if maybe he should be the one to pick on her, but his sense of self-preservation warned him not to. Or maybe it was something else… It was a bit odd to realize just how normal she seemed to be when she wasn't flanked by her two friends, or when she wasn't annoying on him as if it were her job to do so. Sokka wondered just who she was going to meet, though, seeing how she clearly had been quite careful about her appearance today. She usually was, no doubt, but she definitely was dressed to impress today, all the same as he was. And yet it seemed she wasn't going to impress anyone… and neither would he.

It was already an hour past the assigned meeting, Sokka realized. He couldn't believe this, truth to be told… why was it taking so long? Where was she? Had something happened to her? Or was it all just a ruse…? No, it couldn't be. She wouldn't be the type to do something like that. Maybe she had gotten cold feet after a while, that was probably it… but he wondered why. They had gotten along wonderfully ever since they first met… so why would she be afraid of him now? What had she to fear in the first place?

Another hour ticked past, and Sokka found himself falling asleep on his seat. Azula hadn't moved from hers either. She was currently passing the time by playing games in her phone. When he glanced at her he realized she was playing 2048, and he watched for a while as she kept getting stuck after reaching the 1024 tile.

"Push the highest valued tiles to a corner," he said suddenly, startling her.

"What?" she said, looking at him in confusion.

"It makes it easier," he said, standing up and walking over to where she was. He sat next to her and took her phone. To his surprise, she didn't protest when he did that.

He soon was dashing his way through the game, with Azula staring at him with curiosity as he kept putting the tiles together properly. Eventually, to her amazement, he reached the 2048.

"And that's how it's done" he said, smirking at her and handing her the phone.

"Quite a feat," she said, nodding. "May I inquire on how many times you've played it to get that trick right?"

"E-eh… I don't know," he said, blushing. "I play it on my computer when I've got nothing better to do."

"Figures," said Azula, smiling a little, "But I should have expected this from you, after all. You're our local math genius, after all, aren't you?"

"Heh?" Sokka asked, surprised. "Is that a compliment?"

"If you want to take it as one, go ahead, but I wouldn't really be too flattered about it if I were you," she said, smiling a little but sighing afterwards. "So… no sign of your girl?"

"Nope," he admitted. "What about your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Azula replied. "And no. Nothing either."

"Well, isn't this sad," said Sokka, sighing. "Two worst enemies bonding over getting stood up…"

"He'll be here," Azula said, stubbornly. "Just… something's delaying him. It's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "So you're not worried about your 'late boyfriend' keeping you from partying it up in the weekend?"

Azula actually smiled when Sokka joked about what the old lady had said earlier, but she shook her head when he finished talking.

"I'm not going to any parties tonight," she said.

"Oh? So you planned on getting that busy with the boyfriend that you cleared your schedule just for him?" Sokka asked, surprised. Azula sighed.

"He's not my boyfriend, I said, and what the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped. "What do you take me for, really?"

"I don't know," said Sokka, shrugging innocently. "You always accuse me of not having a social life, so I figure yours must be as busy as that of most popular girls in movies, who're always smoking, getting high and getting laid…"

"Well, I can't believe it. It seems your opinion of me is even lower than the one I have about you," Azula said, looking at him accusingly. Sokka grimaced.

"Now, now, don't get all grumpy about it," he said. "After all, I couldn't possibly know what cool kids do, would I?"

"Yeah, naturally, you wouldn't know," said Azula, sighing and looking at her phone's app again. Still offline… she groaned and pocketed the cellphone, irritated.

"Not going to play anymore?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"You ruined the fun of it," she said. "Now I'll have to try and reach a new record without having you telling me what to do."

"Well, you could keep doing it and I'll just keep my mouth shut," he said, smiling at her. "I'll probably laugh when you screw up, but you can probably live with that, can't you?"

"I'd rather not have you laughing at me, thank you very much," she grunted. "But I guess I'll have you doing it anytime eventually. You're probably going to tell all your dear friends about how you watched with your own two eyes how I got stood up, aren't you…?"

"Eh? I wish I could," said Sokka, sighing. "Would be a great way to make fun of you, but I got stood up too, apparently. So it's pretty ridiculous of me to mock you for something I'm suffering over as well."

"Huh," said Azula, looking at him with curiosity. Sokka blinked a couple of times before looking away from her, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"Anyhow… why did you let me grab your phone just like that?" he asked, surprising her. "I figured you'd slap me for touching it."

"Oh, I should have," said Azula, nodding. "I'll probably clean it with Purell when I get home."

"Heh, I should've seen that one coming," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. Azula smiled.

"I was kidding. I just didn't feel like kicking up a ruckus about it, is all…"

"Really?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't feel like taking full advantage of a chance to piss me off? That's got to be a first. What's the matter? Are you out of energies? Forgot to eat your cereals made of the hopes and dreams of little children this morning?"

Azula actually laughed at that again, shaking her head in disbelief. Sokka smiled.

"I'd like to try a cereal of those properties, really," she said, amused. "I wonder what that tastes like…"

"Here I thought you'd know," said Sokka, raising an eyebrow before standing up. "Ah, well. If you have no energies then I suppose I'll have to do something about it. Come on, let's go."

"Uh… what? Go where?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Where else? To get some lunch. I'm starving and you don't have enough energy to hurt me, and that's a bad sign," he said. "So let's get going. My treat."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Azula, staring at him in disbelief. "You're saying you want to buy me lunch? YOU?"

"Oh, I forgot how bad a blow to your ego it'd be if you let the lame Sucker buy you lunch," he said, sighing. "Not gonna stop me, though. I've got enough money to buy lunch for two, I'm already hungry and you look like you could use a good meal. So come on, before my sanity returns…"

"But…" Azula said, and Sokka was surprised when he saw the look of helplessness on her face. It wasn't just that she wouldn't want to be seen eating with him or something of the sort… it was that she didn't want to leave the Plaza in fear that the guy she was waiting for would show up while she was gone.

Sokka actually smiled at that. He would have never expected Azula to show vulnerabilities of any sort, but she had showed him plenty only in the span of a couple of hours today. He wondered if this would mean their relationship would change in some way, from here on… well, hopefully she'd stop calling him Sucker, to begin with, once he'd treated her to lunch.

"Come on. We've been waiting here for hours," he said. "If they show up while we're gone, they'd better be capable of waiting for us as we waited for them."

Azula sighed heavily before nodding, slinging her purse over her shoulder and following Sokka as he led her towards the nearby mechanical stairs. She hardly paid attention to where he was leading her until she realized he had decided to stop by at the one fast-food joint in the mall that wasn't a top-notch, high-class store. Azula sighed again, having hoped to eat something other than this, but guessing eating a large Johnny Rockets' hamburger might ease her anxiety if only a little bit…

"Woah," said Sokka, once she was devouring her meal after they had taken their seat at one of the Dining Deck's tables. "Well, someone's hungry."

"Surprised?" Azula asked, setting down the hamburger she had taken a humongous bite off of as she sipped her drink. "You have no right to be, really. You have an insatiable appetite, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought you were…" he said, before stopping on his tracks. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"You thought I was the kind of girl who keeps her every meal low-fat, drinks diet Coke and keeps count on every single calorie she eats?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow. "Well, turns out I'm not. Surprise surprise. I bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?"

"Not really," said Sokka, smiling a little. "You never seemed to eat like this at lunch…"

"Well, have you ever seen me eat during lunch?" Azula asked, looking at him inquisitively.

"I have seen you… during lunch," said Sokka, scratching the back of his head. He'd never seen her as she ate, though…

"You're pretty inattentive," said Azula, shrugging and biting a fry now. "I've taken my seat at your favorite table so many times now before you get there, and yet you're always so set on arguing with me that you don't even pay attention to what I'm doing. You're really not observant at all…"

"And yet you're the most observant person ever, aren't you?" Sokka asked, digging into his hamburger as well as Azula looked at him in confusion. He swallowed quickly before finishing his idea. "You keep tabs on my favorite shirts, on my choice of deodorant, on the baldness you assumed I had… it's kinda curious just how observant you are, huh?"

"It is," said Azula, shrugging. "But being carefully observant is important when picking on someone. You keep an eye out for their every flaw, so that you can exploit it to your benefit later. It's all just one big strategy."

"That's creepy," he said, and Azula smiled.

"I don't mind if you think so. I'm not doing this to get to your good side, after all," she said, proudly, before continuing with her meal.

"It's seriously creepy, though" said Sokka, frowning. "I mean, you're always annoying me and you seem to know me way too well for my liking… while I'm starting to realize I don't know anything about you."

"Well, now you know I eat in large and careless quantities when I'm anxious," said Azula. "There you have something to get started on."

"Huh, so you're helping me to find a way to pick on you?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"I'm not telling you what to do with your information," said Azula. "You're free to do with it as you see fit. Pick on me or not, it's up to you in the end."

"If that's the case, why did you start picking on me, then?" he asked her, and Azula frowned.

"Because… you looked pick-worthy," Azula said, smiling and taking another fry. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm serious here, you know?"

"Oh, I do. But I have no idea," said Azula, shrugging. "I wanted to annoy someone, you were the first person I found that seemed to be easy to irritate… so I did it. It's not that complicated."

"That's weird," he said, frowning, "Really weird. Are you sure that's the real reason why?"

"What other reason would I have for it?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… maybe it turns out the popular girl, the queen of the school, has the hots for the loser, but she doesn't want to admit it," he said, beaming. Azula looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Oh," she said, and he blinked a few times, worried over her flat reaction.

"W-well… is that it, then?" he asked, somewhat scared now, since she hadn't denied his accusation.

To his surprise, Azula actually smirked, a hand under her chin as she looked at him with malice.

"I'm surprised that, out of all the ideas you could have come up with, that's the one you're sure explains my behavior towards you," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Despite the fact that I've treated you quite badly for a while now, you think I'm interested in you. It's not just that, but you bought me lunch, and you showed me how to beat 2048, too… so are you sure it's not you who has the hots for me?"

Sokka's face contorted in utter horror, disbelief and outrage, and Azula smirked at him before returning to her burger. Well, that had been fun…

"W-what the hell?! Just how much of a masochist do you think I am that I'd fall in love with you?!" Sokka squeaked, and she even laughed.

"So now you're 'in love' with me? My, my!" she said, as he blushed wildly, a snarl on his face. "I was only saying you were attracted to me, but since you've set the bar even higher…"

"I'm not in love with you!" Sokka exclaimed, flustered. "Quit making a mess of everything I say!"

"And how are you so sure?" Azula asked, smirking. "Have you been in love before, by any chance?"

"I…" said Sokka, blushing even harder now. Well… as a matter of fact, he was in love. What he felt for Gilded_Fire had to be love, it couldn't be anything else. "I have been, yeah. And it's not at all like what I feel towards you."

"Oh? Who's the lucky girl?" Azula asked, curious. Sokka blushed harder. "Uh… alright, I guess I got that wrong. Who's the lucky boy? Please tell me it's not my brother…"

"Hell, no! It's not a boy!" Sokka exclaimed, as Azula laughed again. "What the fuck is it with you?!"

"Do excuse me," she said, chuckling. "But for some reason it's just too much fun to tease you. Ah, well. Is the girl you're in love with the one you were supposed to meet today?"

"M-maybe…" Sokka muttered, before sighing. "It's nobody you'd know anyways, so don't bother pestering me about who she is."

"Ah well, that's good for you, then," said Azula, sipping her drink again. "No wonder you were so set on not leaving the Plaza despite I was there too. I had no idea you were actually in love."

"Heh, I had no idea either at first, but apparently it happens when you're not paying attention," said Sokka, shrugging. "How about your boyfriend, though? Are you in love with him?"

He expected her to laugh away at the notion, to tell him she wasn't about to indulge in such foolish feelings, and to remind him, for the millionth time, that he wasn't her boyfriend… but to his surprise, she lowered her gaze, trapping the straw of her large cola between her fingers.

"Maybe," she whispered, and Sokka stared at her in surprise. She noticed the expression on his face and glared at him. "Oh, yes, I know. How could the cold-hearted bitch fall in love with anyone? That poor guy must have known what was coming and that's why he never even showed up in the first place…"

"W-wha… I didn't say that," said Sokka, gulping. Again, she looked vulnerable. Hurt, even though he hadn't been the one to say those cruel words. She raised an eyebrow, but dropped her gaze again.

"No, but you did say no guy in his right mind would spend over ten minutes in my company without ending up suicidal," she said. "And I guess the evidence is on your side…"

"Actually, it's not," said Sokka, folding his arms over his chest, looking at Azula with a serious expression. "I mean… I've been around you for like four hours already, haven't I? And turns out I still don't want to kill myself."

"Oh… but that doesn't really say much," said Azula, smiling a little, despite herself. "You're not in your right mind, or are you?"

Sokka blinked a couple of times at that as she laughed, finishing her hamburger. He would have glared at her, but to his surprise, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had seen her laugh far too many times now, but it was one of the first times she seemed to do it without a hint of malice in her voice, which was quite strange considering she had been teasing him yet again. But there was something kinder about her features right now, as though his words had actually soothed her to a certain level…

Sokka frowned when he realized he was staring at her while his unfinished meal waited for him to get back to it. It sure wasn't like him to forget about food, let alone over someone like Azula. He devoured his hamburger while Azula glanced down to the Plaza from where they were, hoping for a sign of the man she was waiting for as she finished her fries.

"Nothing still?" Sokka asked her, once he was done with his food. Azula sighed and shook her head.

"Doesn't look like it. It's not the best angle to stare down at the Plaza, so it's hard to say, but I can't see people waiting for others down there…"

"I wonder what's the problem, really," said Sokka, sighing. "It's not like her not to show up at all. She's usually incredibly punctual, so… I don't get it."

"He's pretty constant too, so I don't know what might have held him either," said Azula, crossing her arms atop the table. "Maybe they're siblings, and their family's pet goldfish died, so they were holding his funeral today…"

"Pet goldfish?" Sokka repeated, amused. "Why exactly a pet goldfish?"

"I don't know. It's better than a hamster," said Azula, with a grimace. Sokka frowned.

"What's the problem with hamsters…?" he said, and Azula gulped, a guilty look on her face.

"W-well… just saying people are more prone to accidentally vacuum a hamster than a goldfish," said Azula, at which Sokka grimaced.

"Ugh! That's… oh, hell, you vacuumed your hamster?!" he asked, aghast.

"It was an accident!" Azula exclaimed, blushing a little. "M-my… my mother asked me to clean my room, and I was vacuuming the floor, and I didn't notice he was there and… well, it's not a very nice story. So see? Goldfish is better."

"Yeah, I can't believe you're right, but yeah," he said, laughing softly. "But… you think they could be siblings?"

"I don't know," said Azula, shrugging. "It's better than to think they ran into each other, fell in love at first sight and forgot all about us, right?"

"Y-yeah, well, you're right about that," said Sokka, grimacing. "Dead goldfish it is."

Azula laughed weakly again and gazed down at the Plaza. Sokka sighed and dropped back on his chair, staring at the ceiling as he sipped on his drink. Whatever might have happened, he really wanted an explanation. It wasn't as though spending time with Azula had been that bad… which was pretty odd. He had thought being alone with her for such a long amount of time would be hellish, but as it turned out, it hadn't been so bad. Still, he really wished Gilded_Fire had showed up. It was really worrisome that she hadn't…

"Finished yet?" he asked Azula, after realizing she hadn't reached for her fries in a while. She glanced at him, figuring out what he wanted before pushing the fries towards him, to Sokka's surprise.

"I'm good now," she said. "Thanks for the meal. It was… well, unexpectedly kind of you."

"Let it be said that I'm a gentleman," said Sokka, smirking as he reached for her fries.

"Oh, indeed," said Azula, smiling. "Even towards girls who've made you miserable for years… you're really something, Sokka."

"Ehehe, I know," he said, proudly.

"Too bad your girl missed it," said Azula. "Her loss, I suppose, but… it should've been her eating huge hamburgers with you and not me."

"And I suppose you should have been eating at Redwood Grille or something nicer instead," said Sokka, looking at her apologetically. "But I couldn't afford it, so…"

"Don't worry about that," said Azula, smiling a little. "I wouldn't have afforded it either, truth to be told. And the burger was good, so no need to worry."

"Really?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. "So you're not as high-maintenance as you look?"

"I suppose not," said Azula, shrugging. "I do like elegant things, don't get me wrong, but I don't need them if I'm…"

"If you what?" Sokka asked, as she fell silent for a moment.

"The extras aren't all that important when you're with someone you really want to be with, is all," said Azula, looking downcast again. "But since he didn't even show up to begin with, the extras matter even less."

"Hey…" said Sokka, grimacing. He couldn't believe he was worried about her, but he was. It was oddly unsettling to see her showing such a miserable expression… "No need to be so upset… well, okay, maybe there is, but we both were stood up after all. So… how about we make the most of it?"

"Huh?" Azula said, an eyebrow raised. "And by that you mean…?"

"I really don't come here often," said Sokka, looking around himself. "So how about you show this social inept around the best mall in town, huh?"

Azula actually smiled a little, and Sokka gave her a goofy grin. Perhaps they wouldn't be with the people they really wanted to be with… but spending the day together actually didn't sound like a bad idea anymore.

"You sure you want to look around the mall with me?" she asked. "I'm your personal pain in the ass, in case you forgot… and you just discovered I vacuumed a hamster. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I do have second thoughts…" he said, at which Azula frowned, but he chuckled before standing up and pulling at her arm. "Just kidding. Come on, come on. Let's go have fun somehow."

"I do wonder what your idea of fun with me shall be…" Azula said, standing up as they both picked up their respective trays and emptied them at the nearest trash cans. "You don't have some vicious prank plotted up for me, do you?"

"Heh, I could say that right back at you!" Sokka exclaimed, at which Azula laughed.

"Oh, well. I suppose we'll have to wait and see whose prank works first, huh?" she said, and Sokka looked at her defiantly before chuckling again, walking through the tables as they left the Dining Deck.

The pair of them walked together through the top level of the building, looking for something interesting to do in the nearby stores. Upon spotting the Sanrio shop, Sokka started teasing Azula about it, asking her if this was her favorite shop, and she rolled her eyes before dragging him into it, to his surprise and chagrin. Sokka grimaced as she started annoying him by telling him just how cute he would look carrying a Hello Kitty bag, or by handing him stuffed animals that were oh, so soft… Sokka was grimacing after she handed him a Chococat, wishing he could lie about how soft it really was, when he noticed that Azula had sneakily snapped a picture of him on her phone, as he held the stuffed toy.

"H-hey! What the hell?!" he asked, placing the black cat on a shelf again as she laughed.

"Good, good, now I have something to blackmail you with if I ever need it!" she exclaimed, as he tried to take her phone from her.

"Give it! Erase that, Azula! It's not fair!" he squealed, making Azula laugh more as she stretched to keep the phone out of his reach.

"Oh, if you want a picture of the two of you with Chococat, I can take it for you," said the store clerk, surprising the pair of them as they contorted in their struggle to seize the phone.

"Uh… huh?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow as he froze, still stretching his arms around Azula's.

"So many girls bring their boyfriends here, and all those boys are just so stubborn about the stuffed toys that I'm always ready to help whoever needs me," the girl told Azula, who stood up straight and smirked, as Sokka stared at the clerk in horror.

"N-no, no, none of that, she's not my…!"

"Ah, why, thank you," Azula interrupted him, beaming and handing the clerk her phone before grabbing a nearby Pochaco instead and pressing against Sokka. "Smile, dear. The camera loves you."

"What the FUCK!?" Sokka exclaimed, but it was too late for him to protest. The girl snapped the picture, catching him in the middle of his outraged scream at his alleged girlfriend.

They didn't buy anything in the shop after all, and Sokka was fuming during the rest of the time they spent in it, grumbling about crazy girls and whatnot. Azula had quite a fun conversation with the clerk, where she told her all about how her boyfriend couldn't admit he liked these cute things even though she knew he did. The clerk bid goodbye to Azula happily as they left, and Azula clutched Sokka's arm as she led him outside, a pleased smirk on her face.

"Now, now, no need to be so bitter," she told him, as he rolled his eyes. "It was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

"What the hell do you want a picture with me for, huh?" he asked, an eyebrow twitching. "Want to show it to your grandkids one day to tell them how nice you were to pretend to be the girlfriend of your high school's biggest loser?"

"Oh, please," said Azula, looking at him with amusement. "You're taking it too far. You're not the biggest loser. My brother outmatches you by far in that contest."

"Huh… well, good to know you don't think that lowly of me, huh?" he said, glaring at her as she chuckled, dropping her hand and releasing his arm from her grip.

"It should be good news indeed. Ah, well, now where should we go to?"

"Now I'll be the one to choose where we're going because you're mean" Sokka said, at which she laughed again.

They headed to the lower level, and Sokka started looking for stores where he might make her feel as uncomfortable as he had in the Sanrio one. He ended up deciding on The Art of Shaving, hoping Azula would be bothered by such a manly store, but he was greatly disappointed when she was the one asking questions and looking at the products with interest.

"Ah, look, this one might help you with your head," she said, beaming as she picked up one of the electric shavers. "It says it's good for clipping your hair, see? It has a travel case and everything, that way you can keep it on you so if a single hair grows out too fast, you could clip it off right away. What do you think?"

"I think you're a bit crazy," said Sokka, looking at her with raised eyebrows before placing the shaver back in place. "I'm not about to spend that much money on a shaver anyways…"

"Ah, bummer. It's cheaper than the rest of them, though. Or maybe you'd rather shave your head with a Mach 3?"

"Hell, that one's even more expensive than the shaver!" said Sokka, grimacing. "No, no, no. Not going to happen."

"You sure?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows before moving towards the straight blades. "Then what about…?"

"Yeah, no," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and leading her outside the store, to Azula's disappointment.

They looked through the Nordstrom next, and Sokka's eyes widened as he looked at all the clothing stores in this area. Azula was rather surprised to see how eager he was to enter some of the shops, but she followed him fit through every single one, either criticizing his choices or complimenting them whenever she approved of his taste on clothes.

Not long after, they approached the BOSS store, and Sokka commented on the quality of some tuxes while Azula told him whether they would suit him or not. He also dragged her to the cologne area, teasing her and asking her which of those she would rather smell off him, seeing how she always commented on his deodorant. To his surprise, she actually sniffed the samples until she found one she thought would work on him. But, naturally, the price was so steep Sokka would have never been able to afford it. He left the store feeling poorer, despite not having spent a single buck, and Azula patted his back as they continued to wander the mall.

They stopped at Bloomingdale's next, and now Sokka was the one advising Azula on what she could wear as they walked through the aisles on women's clothing. To her surprise, his taste wasn't as terrible as she would have expected it to be. When she mentioned that and he smirked proudly, pleased to overcome her expectations.

Yet naturally he became a little more bashful about expressing his opinion when they approached the lingerie area, where Azula had led him to precisely for the sake of teasing him. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw how flustered he was.

"Now, now, I'm pretty sure you mustn't have seen female underwear in your life. So how about you study it for now, since you've got such a good opportunity to do so?" she asked, smirking. "The day should come when you'll have to take it off someone, and you'd better know how to do it by then…"

"Eh, yeah, very funny," he said, blushing harder as she laughed. "As much as I do hope the day comes, I'm not going to take it off mannequins for practice. Unless, of course, you meant to say I ought to practice by taking it off you?"

"Oh, dear. There we go again," said Azula, and Sokka cringed, guessing he had stepped into dangerous grounds once more. "Now you want to take off my underwear. Well, aren't you one seriously naughty nerd…"

"I'm not…! Ugh, I'm getting back at you, is all!" he exclaimed, flustered, as she laughed heartily. "I'm not saying I want to take anything off you!"

"So you don't?" said Azula, pretending to be hurt by his words now. "Oh, dear. And here I thought my not-boyfriend found me appealing…"

"Yeah, yeah…" he said, gritting his teeth at that. She wasn't his not-girlfriend, or his girlfriend, or anything of the sort… no, the only girl he was somewhat involved with was Gilded_Fire. And she wasn't here. She hadn't showed up.

And oddly enough, he had been enjoying his time with Azula so much he had almost forgotten about her by now.

He felt rather guilty about that, but then again, she had stood him up in the first place. Who could blame him for doing his best to enjoy his time out here, even if it had been with a girl he had hated ever since he'd first met her? He would ask Gilded_Fire about what had kept her from him later, of course… but for now, he had every right to spend his free time doing whatever he wanted to, with whoever he wanted to do it with.

"Would you look at this?" Azula said, puzzled. Sokka returned to reality thanks to the sound of her voice, and he found her looking at some of the most complex corsets the store had to offer "What do you suppose all these buckles accomplish?"

"They accomplish delaying guys from reaching their goal too fast, of course," said Sokka, smiling a little. Azula looked at him with interest before nodding.

"Well, that's true. I suppose it is rather clever when you think about it," she said, smirking. "Still, is it really worth all the trouble to get into that crazy tight corset just to tease your man?"

"I don't know why you're asking me that, seriously," said Sokka, shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure it's obvious that I don't know anything about lingerie, or about the mechanics of getting laid… you probably know that sort of stuff better than me. So if someone here knows if it's worth the trouble, it'd be you."

"Oh, so you think I'd know, huh?" said Azula, raising her eyebrows before stepping away from the corset. "Well, I guess I have news for you, then."

With that, she leaned in towards him and Sokka blushed as she whispered in his ear, with a thread of a voice:

"I'm a virgin."

His eyes widened as she walked away from him, suddenly interested in the shoes at other aisles of the shop. Sokka blushed and looked at her, still somewhat surprised… not so much because of her confession, but rather, because she had told him something like that. Why had she given that sort of personal information away to him, of all people…?

They left the store shortly after, and Sokka was still somewhat flustered after her previous revelation. Azula looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he blushed again as they stepped into the mechanical stairs again, climbing up to the next floors.

"Do tell, what exactly did you take me for?" Azula asked him, once they reached the top floor. Sokka gulped.

"I don't really know," he said, sighing. "I'm sorry, I guess."

"Well, I don't see why you're apologizing," she said, as she walked over towards the large windows from where they could see the beach. "I'm just asking a question. Did you think I'd just open up my legs systematically to every guy I ran into?"

"N-no, well… I did figure you'd have ridiculously high standards," said Sokka, gulping. "I just guessed you might have had a couple of experiences, at least. Isn't that what popular kids like you brag about, after all? We nerds are losers because we can't get laid, you guys are awesome because you can… so I just figured you were like that, too."

"Well… you were wrong about me, then" said Azula, simply, staring off at the beach. It was already dusk, which tinged the ocean and sand in many dark colors. Sokka stared at Azula warily, wondering if she was mad at him.

"I suppose I was," he muttered. "Sorry for coming to my own conclusions like that… I shouldn't have judged you so harshly."

Azula laughed weakly and looked at him with disbelief.

"Are you listening to yourself? If there's someone you have every right to judge harshly, it's me. I've been making your life miserable for the past two years and you think you're the one who's in the wrong? You're weird, Sokka."

"W-well… maybe I am a little bit," he said. "But since I don't appreciate how you've judged me so much for no reason ever since we've known each other, then maybe that's why I feel bad for having judged you."

"Huh," said Azula, surprised by his logic. "Well… I guess that makes sense, then."

"Why do you do it, though?" Sokka asked, and Azula stiffened. "I mean… I've never really gotten it. It's true, it could be much worse… you've never physically assaulted me or anything, and even though the things you say are pretty insulting, you could say worse things. Still… I don't get why you pick on me like that. You're… you're not really a bully, I think. But I don't get what you are, really. I don't know why…"

"Well, neither do I," Azula said suddenly, and Sokka looked at her with a frown. "So I guess there's not much point in asking for reasons to explain it. I don't get why I do it either."

"No? So you're saying you just enjoy exploiting my weaknesses for reasons unknown?" said Sokka, smiling a little, but Azula didn't seem to find much amusement in the notion.

"Maybe," she muttered, and Sokka gulped. Clearly, she was trying to dodge the subject. She most likely had reasons to do what she did, but if she refused to explain herself to him, he wouldn't press her.

"Well, then… I suppose we'll never know," he said, shrugging. The waves kept making their way into the sand, crashing against it softly. He bit his lip while thinking about how to cheer the mood up in whatever way possible. "Why didn't you ask your boyfriend to meet you in the beach, eh? It's a way more romantic place than the mall, isn't it?"

"I think I've said plenty of times now that he wasn't my boyfriend," Azula muttered, flatly. "And… I'm not really fond of the beach."

"You're not?" Sokka asked, surprised.

"No… not really," she said, gritting her teeth. "It holds a few unpleasant memories for me."

"Huh, for you too?" Sokka asked, surprised. "Well, that's a shocker. We have that in common, then."

"We do?" Azula asked, and Sokka sighed.

"Well… I'm just saying this because we've had a nice day and because I hope you won't go around telling you two dear friends about what you've discovered about me today," he said, and Azula smirked.

"Okay… do tell," she said, amused.

"Y-you see…" said Sokka, sighing, "Me and my friends, or as you like to call us, the group of misfits, went to the beach one day. And I wanted to surf, you know? My sister's really good at it so I figured I'd give it a try. But I had no idea what I was doing, and while I was still trying to figure it out, a big wave came crashing on me, knocked me over backwards in the water and I nearly drowned!"

"Oh, my," said Azula, her eyes widening at his dramatic narration as she looked at him with a smile. Sokka nodded solemnly.

"It was a very terrifying experience. B-but… that's not the worst part," he said, grimacing. "T-the thing is, I blacked out for a minute… swallowed some sea water, I don't know. The thing is, someone started to perform the CPR on me… and, well… you know how that goes, right?"

"Yeah, I think everyone does…" said Azula, warily.

"T-the thing is, I kinda wasn't really aware of what was happening," said Sokka, gulping. "So until I was conscious again I didn't realize who had given it to me, and, uh, well… turns out it was Aang."

"Oh, damn…" said Azula, starting to chuckle now as Sokka grimaced.

"S-so yeah… my first kiss was with my best friend, you could say," he finished, and with that Azula started laughing, as Sokka smiled weakly in her direction.

"You seriously have the worst luck…!" she said, still chuckling.

"Yeah, tell me about it" said Sokka, sighing dramatically.

"Ah, well, for what it's worth…" Azula said when she stopped laughing, still looking at him with amusement. "That probably doesn't count as a kiss. It wasn't supposed to be one, so try not to think of it as your first kiss at all."

"I wish I could," said Sokka, sighing. "But everyone else has teased me about that for such a long time that now I can't even think about it in any other way. It's so damn horrid. You know how many times I dreamt about drowning and being revived by some hot lifesaver girl?"

"Yeah, I figure plenty of times," said Azula, chuckling again.

"Well, I can assure you I don't dream about that anymore," he said, and Azula broke down laughing once more.

Sokka smiled as she composed herself, tears twinkling in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, well," she said, sighing. "I suppose neither of us has much luck in the beach indeed then. Odd that we'd share traits, but I guess we do…"

"Yeah, looks like it," said Sokka, smiling a little. "I mean, I suppose I didn't get eaten by a shark or something, but it still was really bad."

"It sure sounds like it," said Azula. "Well… if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't eaten by a shark either, but I probably wouldn't have minded to be eaten by one that night"

"Night? You were at the beach at night?" Sokka asked, surprised. Azula laughed again and looked at him in disbelief.

"What, you've never been at the beach after the sun sets?" she asked, and he blushed.

"It's… supposed to be a bad idea," he muttered, and Azula chuckled at his innocent mumbling. "And I think it's illegal to stay there after dark, isn't it?"

"Well, it's really not a good idea, I guess," she said. "But since all the cool kids love to break rules and to do reckless things, I ended up sneaking into the beach at night, of course. Mai and Ty Lee came with me, and we met several other people there, some of them our age, some a bit older. They were dancing and jumping around a fire, joking and teasing each other and getting wasted. You know, the typical stuff you must imagine I'm involved with all the time."

"Eh… yeah, sorta," said Sokka, gulping.

"In any case, I spotted this one guy whom I'd seen in some parties before," she continued. "So I finally decided to approach him, and while he did pay me some attention, he wasn't all that interested in me. Yet even though I sensed he didn't seem to care much for me, I kept pushing on… which was a big mistake. He pulled me away from the party and kissed me, which wasn't all that awful, but he seemed to have done it just to get me off his case."

"Why do you say that?" Sokka asked, surprised. "Was it that bad a kiss?"

"Not quite," said Azula. "But he slipped away from me as quickly as he could… I do reckon I said a couple of stupid things to him, but I didn't think they'd drive him away like that. Anyways, he said he'd get a beer, so I figured he'd be back… and when he wasn't I returned to where everyone else was gathered to find him making out with another girl, right in front of everyone else."

Sokka winced at that, and Azula sighed.

"So that's why I don't like the beach much anymore. It happened a couple of years back, but all the same as you regret giving your 'first kiss' to your best friend, I regret giving mine to some asshole I hardly knew, who was pretty much just trying to get with as many girls as he could in a single night. So… yeah. The beach is a lousy place for kissing."

"Sounds like it," said Sokka, gulping and patting her shoulder. "Sorry to hear that, though."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear you kissed Aang too," she said, smirking at him. "But it's all in the past after all. No need to worry about it anymore, is there?"

"Well, if you say so," said Sokka, shrugging. "So… if it's in the past, should we go to the beach now and confront it at last, after being alienated from it for so long?!"

He struck an apparently heroic pose as he said that, and Azula just laughed at him again.

"Yeah. I don't think so," she said, smiling before turning around. "It's getting dark. We probably should go home now."

"Eh? And here I thought you were the kind of girl who…"

"Haven't I already proven to you that I'm every kind of girl except what you took me for?" Azula asked, at which Sokka froze and smiled guiltily.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, chuckling as they made their way to the stairs again.

They wound up at the Plaza again, and while Sokka was about to make way towards the mall's exit, Azula stopped before the benches they had been sitting at before. Sokka was surprised to see she still seemed to look around herself hopelessly, a sigh escaping her lips as she acknowledged at last that the person she was waiting for wouldn't come. Sokka approached her as she sat on the empty bench, placing her head in her hands as her fingers slid through her hair, the perfect embodiment of frustration.

"Hey…" he said, sitting next to her as she sighed again.

"I really thought he would be different," she muttered. "I thought… I thought he really cared enough about me. I mean… I hardly know him, but it's almost as if I'd known him all my life. And I really… I really thought this would be it. But I guess I just…"

"Now, now," said Sokka, placing a hand on her back. "Don't blame yourself or anything… if he didn't come, then he's an idiot. Don't feel bad about yourself, alright?"

"It's just… this time it really mattered," Azula said, looking at him sideways. Sokka sighed.

"Yeah… it did to me, too," he admitted. "But I guess they must have had their reasons. I hope so, at least…"

Azula looked at him in disbelief before sitting up straight. Sokka blinked a couple of times, wondering what was the matter with her.

"How can you believe in the best of people like that?" she asked, still looking at him in confusion "Y-you… you just spent most your day with me, of all people, and you're actually trying to comfort me while I'm down. I've spent the last years tormenting you and you're still here… why, Sokka?"

"W-well…" said Sokka, looking at Azula in confusion before shrugging "I don't know, really. I'd just like to think that you're not as bad as I always thought, and… well, you proved that's true today. I know you'll think I'm a naïve idiot, and hell, for all I know you'll spend all day chasing after me and calling me names on Monday, but for now… for now I'd rather forget our track record and stay focused on the present time."

"You're really weird," she said, sighing but smiling a little. "Still… I suppose I should be grateful. If you thought I'm unforgivable, this day would have been unbearable."

"Yeah, probably," said Sokka. "So hey… don't worry about him. If he didn't come, you can just ask him why later. I know I'll be asking the girl I was supposed to meet, too. So don't let this bring you down. It'll be okay. The world isn't ending just because of this."

"Heh, well. The end of the world seemed more likely to happen than for us to get along," Azula said, smiling more now. "But I guess you're right… not much use mulling it over right now."

"Nope," said Sokka, standing up and offering her his hand. "So… how about we go home, then? Unless you'd rather we have dinner at Johnny Rockets, but it'd have to be your treat this time around…"

"Heh… I don't think so," she said, taking his hand and looking at him skeptically. Sokka chuckled and pulled her up, patting her back again. "Never mind. You're right anyways. And sitting around here isn't going to make much difference. It's not like they'll come now, if they didn't show up in the whole day."

"Unlikely," said Sokka, shaking his head. "So stop thinking about it now. Instead, think about how you're going to blackmail me with those pictures you got and all that," he said, and Azula chuckled as they walked to the exit.

"I'll wait for the right chance to use them, don't forget it," she said, proudly, and he smiled.

"Well, I sure hope you never get that right chance," he replied, as she laughed softly.

To her utter surprise, they didn't part ways immediately. Sokka actually tagged along with her, following her through the streets as they made their way to her house. They talked very little, despite having spent the whole day chatting at leisure, but Azula kept casting glances towards him every now and then. Despite what he had told her, he looked disappointed as well. Clearly, he had looked forward to meeting whoever he had been waiting for… Azula clenched her fists and frowned, thinking the girl who had stood him up was a complete moron. She wouldn't tell him that, of course… but she had been amazed by him today. She couldn't understand how anyone would leave him waiting…

"Well, here we are," said Sokka, as they stopped at Azula's family home. Some windows were lit, and Sokka guessed Zuko, and perhaps Azula's parents, would be in there.

"No offense, but I'm not going to invite you inside," said Azula, sighing. "Else…"

"Yeah, yeah, Zuko is probably going to misunderstand," said Sokka, smiling a little.

"And my mother…" said Azula, rolling her eyes and gritting her teeth. "Anyhow, I… I think I should thank you for today."

"Eh? Thank me? No need for that," said Sokka, smiling and shaking his head. "I probably should be the one thanking you. If I hadn't run into you, it'd have been the most boring day ever."

"Yeah, probably," said Azula, smiling as well. "I just… I'd never done anything to deserve your company. I never expected you to give me a chance at all, and… I don't know how to thank you for that."

"I can think of a few things," said Sokka, with a mischievous smile. "First of all, by not annoying me at school anymore! And if that's still not enough, then… uh… delete the pictures on your phone, of course!"

Azula laughed at that and shook her head, at which Sokka pouted.

"Well, why not? You said you didn't know how to thank me, and that's how!" he exclaimed, as she kept laughing.

"The first I can arrange, but the second one isn't going to happen, simple as that," she said, grinning. "I might not use them as blackmail material, but I will keep them anyways."

"Oh? Why?" said Sokka, surprised.

"My reasons are my own," said Azula, proudly, and Sokka scowled.

"Meh. Stingy girl," he said, and she chuckled.

"Anyhow… thanks for not being in your right mind, I guess," she said, making him blush a little. "If you were, well, we both know you wouldn't have put up with me for a whole day. So… thanks again. I won't forget this."

"I… I'm sorry about saying that, really" said Sokka, sighing. "I already tried to apologize for it earlier, but…"

"Never mind," said Azula, shaking her head, but he ignored her.

"See… now I think that only a guy out of his right mind would leave you waiting," said Sokka, lowering his gaze. "And miss out on the chance of spending one seriously strange day with you… It was weird, still is, but I seriously enjoyed it."

"If you say so," said Azula, looking down as well yet smiling kindly. She wasn't used to hearing words like these… let alone did she expect to hear them from him. She smiled again at him and nodded in his direction. "Good night, Sokka."

"Night…" he replied, as she pulled out her keys and opened the front door. "Say hi to Zuko for me!"

"Yeah, not going to happen," said Azula, smirking at him with malice one last time before entering the house. She waved goodbye at him before closing the door gently.

Azula sighed, dropping her forehead against the wooden door. She breathed heavily a couple of times before pushing herself away from the door and towards the stairs that led to her room. She passed by the living room, where Zuko was busy playing something on his PlayStation console, and the kitchen, where her mother was currently cooking dinner. She looked away from the stove when she heard her daughter's footsteps.

"You're home, Azula," Ursa said, as though she were telling her daughter something she didn't know. Azula rolled her eyes.

"No kidding," she snapped, before climbing the stairs quickly, getting away from the woman as fast as possible.

Their relationship had grown strained over the years. It had never been smooth, not as far as Azula could remember it, but it had taken a turn for the worst in the recent years. And every time Azula remembered why that was she felt an unfathomable hatred burning in her heart. The hatred that had caused her to shut away from everyone in her family. The hatred that had brought her to create different alter egos for herself just to make her reality more bearable: the one she used in school… and the one she used online.

She placed her purse on her desk before turning on her computer. And she sighed heavily when she saw he wasn't online still. Of course he wasn't. He probably never would come online again just for the sake of avoiding her. Well, he'd better do that. It'd take some nerve for him to start chatting with her as though he hadn't disappointed her as he had…

She dropped on her bed, a hand on her forehead as she sighed heavily. She pulled out her phone, checking all her messaging apps and making sure she hadn't missed out on anything while she had been out with Sokka.

Out with Sokka… the idea of having been with him brought a smile to her face. It was such a weird notion, having spent a whole day in his company and having enjoyed it… of course, he wasn't the one she had been waiting for, but he had made the entire situation so much easier on her. She really felt she owed him for it.

She pulled up her camera's app, and she looked at the recent pictures she had taken. She smiled more as she looked at the two pictures of him in the Sanrio store, the first one with his grimace of utter disgust, and the second with him yelling at her, as she smiled happily, holding the stuffed doll in her hands. She wondered if what they'd had could be considered a date… well, maybe it had been one. An accidental date, perhaps, but it had felt like one, even if they hadn't noticed it.

For the longest time, she had made his life miserable. And while she'd done it for no reasons she would explain to him, she had always felt guilty for it on some level. He was a nice guy and she had always known it… but today he had proven it all over again. He was cute too, Ty Lee had that right… but he was more than just cute. He was fun to be with. He wasn't a loser at all… and if he was, well, she sure wouldn't mind being a loser along with him, if he was up for it.

She sighed and curled up on her bed, kicking off her boots before allowing herself to doze off. Her father would arrive home at any given moment, they'd have dinner and then she would go to bed for real… normally she wouldn't, of course, because she'd stay up playing Dannan for hours into the night, especially during weekends. But today she couldn't bring herself up to do it. Not when she knew he wouldn't be there…

She had only closed her eyes for a few minutes when she heard the familiar alert for a new message coming from her computer. Her heart lurched inside her chest as she sat up at haste, staring at the laptop in disbelief and horror… and her fears were confirmed when she saw who had sent the message.

She stood up and walked to the desk, reading his message eagerly… to find herself completely dumbfounded.

BoomerAwesome: Hey there… I was waiting for you.

She stared at the screen in disbelief before replying, her fingers dancing over her keyboard rapidly.

Gilded_Fire: What do you mean you were waiting for me? I was the one who was waiting for you! I spent the whole day waiting for you!

BoomerAwesome: You WHAT?! Hey, that's absurd! D: why didn't we run into each other if that's the case?

Gilded_Fire: Maybe you went to the wrong mall…?

She sighed after typing in that response, wondering if he could really be so careless. He would get lost in Dannan at times, of course, everyone did… but she didn't think he'd get lost in real life, too.

BoomerAwesome: Like hell I did! I was at Santa Monica Place, Gil. I didn't get the place wrong, I'm pretty sure that's what we agreed on.

Azula's eyes widened as her fingers slid through her hair. Well, this was truly ridiculous.

Gilded_Fire: Well, then, what is this, are we in parallel universes or something? Because I was there as well. Or maybe, I don't know, you're two years in the past and we're the online version of the Lake House?

BoomerAwesome: Very funny. I don't think so.

Azula huffed in exasperation, typing in another response.

Gilded_Fire: Well, then, I don't understand what's going on here. Because I spent the entire day in the company of one of my brother's friends while I hopelessly waited for you!

But just as she sent that message, he sent one of his own.

BoomerAwesome: I really don't get this. I ended up hanging out with a girl from my school because I never saw you!

The magnitude of the situation only hit her at that very moment.

And a few blocks away, it hit Sokka too.

Azula's hand moved to her mouth as she pulled away from the computer, staring at the screen as if it had been possessed by a demon. She stepped away, feeling the blood draining from her face as she finally understood…

One more message blinked on her screen, the message that made her step back until she hit the wall.

BoomerAwesome: Azula?

She fell to the floor, her back still pressed against the wall as she shivered, still looking at the screen in disbelief. Out of everything she could have imagined, this was the last option that would have come to her mind. How could it be him…? Why was it him, of all people?

She shook her head time over and time again, her hands sliding into her hair as she undid her top knot with shivering fingers. Her eyes were open wide as she panicked, knowing she couldn't answer him. Not anymore. What was she supposed to say? That she would have never picked on him had she known he was BoomerAwesome? As if that would accomplish anything… it'd only prove she was as rotten to the core as he thought she was.

She kept shaking her head in denial, unable to comprehend how this had happened. Why hadn't she seen the signs? She had teased him about that test during lunch, the one on which he got an A+… the one BoomerAwesome had told her about so proudly later on, that very same day. And if she thought about it, Sokka's personality today had been quite close to that of BoomerAwesome. Not to mention that it was just quite coincidental that the two of them would have agreed on meeting their dates at the very same place…? How the hell hadn't she thought about it sooner?!

Because it would have been the actual worst-case scenario, that was why. She had been so cruel to Sokka for so long that she never even considered the idea of him being BoomerAwesome. Sokka was just her brother's foolish friend to her, and BoomerAwesome was none of that. BoomerAwesome was the best online friend she'd ever made. He was charming, funny, attentive… he had made her fall for him without her realization. And yet he was Sokka… he was Sokka. All along, it had been Sokka.

She felt stupid. She couldn't understand why she hadn't put it together before. Why hadn't she asked him personal questions from the very beginning? Why had she allowed this to escalate to the point where she had been so happy, feeling tingling butterflies in her stomach, when she thought about being married to his character in Dannan…?

But it was all over now. It had to be. He couldn't possibly forgive her for this… not when she had been his friend while being his tormentor at the same time. How was she supposed to face him at school on Monday? How was she supposed to do anything at all while worrying over meeting him in school, to begin with?

Her breathing became heavier as she shook her head, wishing to wake up all of sudden and discover it had been a dream. A weird, twisted, random dream her subconscious had come up with just to mess with her… but it wasn't one. She knew it wasn't. This was real… and she had to face it somehow, no matter if she didn't know how…

* * *

><p>Sokka had dropped his head on his palm, his elbow resting on his desk as he tried to find the sense in this. How could it be? How could Azula be Gilded_Fire? They were so different, there was no logic in this… Azula, the popular girl, the one who was famous throughout school, his personal nightmare, was also the girl he had fallen in love with, without even knowing her. He thoroughly enjoyed his time with Gilded_Fire, because through her company he could forget about Azula's constant picking on him. But now it seemed that he had been running from and to the very same person. And that was just preposterous…<p>

How could Azula even find the time to play Dannan? Wasn't she supposed to be completely invested in her great social life, and wasn't she the kind of person who made fun of those who, like him, played MMORPGs? And yet she played it too… and not only that, but she was level 93 by now. They had met through the game about a year ago, and they were still playing it together to this day. Sure, there were some nights when she didn't log into Dannan, but even if she wasn't in the game server, she still chatted with him.

"Her phone, though…" he reasoned soon enough, gritting his teeth and rubbing his temples as he wondered if that was how she kept in touch with him even when she was as busy with her social life as she was…

But it was still ridiculous. It was! Azula was the last person he would have expected to be Gilded_Fire… sure, he had never expected it to be anyone he knew in person, but if he had been told he already knew Gilded_Fire, he would have likely assumed it would be anyone but her. And yet it was her. It had to be…

"What the fuck's wrong with the universe…?" he said, shaking his head. It had to be his luck, really, that the girl he had fallen hopelessly in love with just happened to be the one girl he'd abhorred for good reason until today…

Sunday was an awful day for the two of them. Usually they spent their free time playing together, not knowing who it was they were playing with. But now that they knew who it was, the situation was entirely different. Being locked in their respective rooms wasn't an option anymore, even though that was what they always did with their spare time…

Hakoda and Kya were pleased to have Sokka lounging around the house that day. He watched TV with his sister, whining about the lame shows she chose to watch and getting a slap on the back of the head for his every complaint. He even helped around the house, dusting the furniture absentmindedly and cooking along with his mother. Needless to say, everyone was rather confused by his behavior… but they didn't comment on it, since it wasn't all that bad a change anyways.

As for Azula, Ty Lee and Mai had dragged her outside in the afternoon. One of their classmates was holding a party, an idea Azula wouldn't be fond of on a Sunday, considering she didn't want to arrive to school puking on the next day… but this time around she didn't refuse. She couldn't. She sure wouldn't mind getting wasted to the point of blacking out and waking up ten years later. That way she might forget about Sokka altogether…

Of course, she didn't do that. She wasn't that much of a drinker, for her taste in drinks was far too refined compared to the rest of her classmates. If she had alcohol, it would be quality alcohol, and not the cheap, tasteless beer they usually bought for parties like these.

She talked with her friends during the evening, but she didn't do anything other than that. She was actually counting down the seconds until she could leave without seeming rude… which would be when everyone else was drunk, of course. And while she waited for that to happen, all she could do was look at her phone helplessly. No messages from BoomerAwesome, of course. She already knew there'd be none. She didn't know why she had checked again. She didn't know why she hadn't stopped checking through the day. Every time she looked she could hardly hold back the urge to cry of despair…

She left at nine thirty, and returned home without a hitch. Her father welcomed her home, surprised to see her return so early. She politely replied to his curious inquiry about why she was back so soon, letting him know she had lost interest in the party. It seemed that answer pleased Ozai, and he patted her shoulder proudly. He had never been a supporter of Azula's lifestyle, not the parties nor the constant locking herself up in her room. Azula assumed it was because he feared she would do something truly stupid in those parties… but she never had. She never would. She guessed he worried about her, but his concern was actually insulting.

After a simple dinner comprised by some fruit she snuck from the kitchen, she dropped on her bed, glaring at her computer while dreading the next day. She didn't want to go to school… couldn't she pretend she was sick? No, surely not. Her mother would force her to go if she noticed she wasn't sick… and truth to be told, she would rather go to school than stay here. She didn't want to be in this house during school hours, and for good reason.

She gritted her teeth when that thought crossed her mind again, and she realized she had to go, no question. It didn't matter how uncomfortable it might be, she had to do it. It was better to face Sokka, after all, no matter now little she wanted to… though she probably wouldn't even have to. He was bound to give her the cold shoulder through the day. She wouldn't blame him at all if he did…

And thus, Monday arrived.

Sokka gulped as he approached the school entrance with Katara. Would he get another post-it today during lunch? He rather doubted it. Would she call him Sucker and mock him, showing everyone his picture with the stuffed Sanrio black cat? Probably. He guessed she'd find some way to make it look as though she hadn't been affected by what they had discovered two days ago…

"Sokka, are you listening to me?" he realized Katara had asked him, as they climbed the steps into the school vestibule. "Are you okay?"

"Uh… sure." he said, with an awkward grin.

"I was just wondering if you're going to join us at the Library today," Katara said. "Suki told me they're holding an event about… oh, Aang!"

"An event about Aang?" said Sokka, as his sister jumped off towards Aang, who was opening his locker at the moment. "Sure, sounds neat. He gets his own event now? What is it, a bald boys' appreciation event, huh?"

It took him a moment to realize he was talking to himself, which garnered him looks of confusion from a few people who passed him by. He rolled his eyes and decided to ignore them, walking towards his own locker to get his books for the day. But once he closed the door he realized that, a few ways down the hallway, Mai and Ty Lee were chatting animatedly with Azula, who was taking her own books from the locker.

He stared at her for longer than he should have, and he knew it, but he couldn't help himself. She was Gilded_Fire, after all… he sighed heavily, realizing he had been right to guess the girl was actually rather beautiful in real life. Azula's looks were really outstanding, despite the fact that he usually didn't pay them much attention, for he was too busy trying to come up with ways to defend from her merciless jabs to admire her beauty. But right now, as he watched her talking with her friends, he couldn't help but acknowledge it…

It wasn't Azula who noticed Sokka was watching her, though. Ty Lee gazed around herself and found him standing not too far away from where they were She waved cheerfully at him, and Sokka jumped at that. Well, damn. How was he supposed to respond to that? What was Azula going to do now…?

But Azula didn't smirk or wink deviously at him as she would in normal circumstances. Something in her eyes was different from the usual. She looked at him intensely for a moment, and he returned the stare, but he soon just lifted his hand towards Ty Lee, hoping his acknowledgment of her greeting would be enough to keep her off his case, and he turned to his locker again.

"Oh, he waved at me!" said Ty Lee, smiling as she turned towards her friends again. "That's new. What'd you think got into him, huh?"

"I'm a bit more worried about what got into her, to be honest," said Mai, raising an eyebrow and looking at Azula. The girl still had that troubled look on her face, and it took her an instant to realize they were talking about her while her mind was overflowing with thoughts of Sokka and BoomerAwesome.

"W-what?" she said, and Mai's inquisitive stare grew more intense.

"What else? Why didn't you mock your favorite Sucker today?" she asked, at which Azula huffed.

"Maybe I just didn't feel like it, is all," she retorted, at which Mai and Ty Lee exchanged a look of disbelief. "What's with you two? Quit it with the third degree. I've got nothing to say to him."

"Well, that's why we're worried!" said Ty Lee, as they made their way to class. "You always have something to say to him, don't you?"

"I guess I just got bored of him, then," Azula grunted, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore, alright? Leave him be. I don't care about picking on him anymore."

"Not like we ever knew why you cared for it in the first place," said Mai, frowning, "What's the matter with you, Azula? You've been acting weird since yesterday. Is it about the guy you told us you were meeting on Saturday?"

"Oh! Oh, no, please tell me he wasn't some sort of fraud!" said Ty Lee, horrified at the idea. Azula rolled her eyes.

"No, he wasn't and it doesn't matter, I said. Come on, we have class now," she grunted, walking faster than the others for the sole sake of getting away from them.

She sat at her desk quietly during all her morning classes. She usually paid attention to her lessons, but today she could only sigh occasionally, ignoring most of what the teacher was saying. When the bell rang she got up, ready to head for lunch, but someone caught up with her just as she was picking up her bag.

"Hey, Azula," said a familiar voice, a flirting hint in his tone. Azula lifted her gaze to find Jet smiling at her, as ever. "How's it going?"

"Could be better," she confessed, as she led the way outside the classroom.

"Is that right? Then I could make it better," said Jet, smirking. "My parents are going out of town for a couple of days. I figured I could throw a party tonight, seeing how everyone was bored to pieces after that lousy one yesterday. What'd you say?"

"Why would you need my opinion on it?" Azula asked, smiling derisively as she raised an eyebrow. "It's your parents, your house and your problem. It has nothing to do with me."

"Well, I was hoping you could come over and bring the good music," said Jet, shrugging. "Word is you have great taste…"

His attempt at subtle flirting wasn't something Azula really enjoyed. She knew Jet was a lot like Chan, that fool from the beach… to Jet's favor, though, he probably didn't get involved with several girls at once. Nonetheless, Azula didn't really feel inclined to join him. In normal circumstances, she might have… but the last thing she wanted to do as of late was join parties.

"I'll think about it," she said, shrugging. "I'll let you know later."

"Uh, alright then," said Jet, frowning. It was quite unusual for Azula to blow off that sort of invitation… "Let me know for sure, though. And if you don't want to go, you can give me your iPod anyways."

"So you just want the music, is it?" Azula asked, rolling her eyes. Jet snickered and shook his head.

"Not really, but if I can't get you…"

"If you can't get me, you won't get anything of mine," Azula stated, at which Jet frowned. "Sorry, but I'm really not in the mood for this right now."

"Well, whatever" said Jet, shrugging and letting Azula walk away without another word.

Azula sighed as she entered the cafeteria, only sparing a quick glance towards the Misfits' table… and breathing out in relief when she noticed Sokka had his back turned towards the door, which meant he wouldn't see her. Perfect.

She bolted her way past them towards where Mai and Ty Lee waited, and while those at Sokka's table would have noticed her strange behavior at any other occasion, they were all too intent in discussing Sokka's latest mishap during a session in the Chemistry lab.

"And as if overheating the mixture wasn't enough, he almost poured the sulfuric acid all over me," Zuko growled, irritated. "If it weren't because Suki got him out of his daze, the dumbass would've done it."

"Hey, I wasn't doing it on purpose, okay?!" Sokka exclaimed, flustered. But no matter his defense, everyone's attention was set on him.

"What the hell, Meathead?" asked Toph. "Even I'd be more careful. Not that I'd be handed sulfuric acid anytime soon, but even so…"

"Seriously, Sokka, you've been acting weird for two days now," said Katara, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Well… I think I know what it is," said Aang, tapping his chin with a finger and earning everyone else's attention. "You met Gilded Fire after all, didn't you?"

Sokka was surprised when the rest of his friends jumped at that. He grimaced as they all started asking questions at once, and he grimaced as he found it impossible to answer any of them…

Eventually, he managed to answer a few questions, but the bell that signaled the end of the recess rang long before he was able to explain anything properly to them. Not that he wanted to explain anything anyways. He didn't even want to imagine the look of utter disgust on Zuko's face if he found out that the girl Sokka was virtually married to was none other than his sister…

"Hey, Meathead," Toph said suddenly, bringing him out of his thoughts again. The others were heading to their own classes quickly, and Toph was the only one who had lagged behind with Sokka. "What's the problem?"

"Who said there's a problem?" Sokka growled.

"I can tell," she stated, simply. "C'mon. What's the issue with Gildy? Isn't she what you expected her to be?"

Sokka almost laughed at that. His gaze instinctively turned towards where Azula had been sitting, as she stood up to leave with her friends. She didn't look back at him this time, and he turned his attention back towards Toph.

"Yeah, no. Not at all what I expected," he said, without knowing if he meant that in a good or a bad way. Toph grimaced.

"Well, tough luck, then," she said. "I guess that's too bad, really. You seemed to be into her."

"I was, I guess," said Sokka, shrugging. "But what can you do…"

"What's the problem, though?" asked Toph, as they walked out of the cafeteria. "Is she not pretty enough for you?"

"Nah, that's not it," said Sokka.

"Too old for you?"

"N-not really. She's about right in the age department, actually," said Sokka, scratching the back of his head.

"Then… well, I guess she might be a pretty, preppy bitch, then," said Toph, shrugging. "Too bad for you, really."

"No need for you to pity me about it, I'm alright," said Sokka, sighing. "I'll find someone else. It's not that big a deal…"

"Yeah, well, sure," said Toph, shrugging. "You might find someone else to plays games with you all day long, whose interests are pretty close to yours, who keeps you up talking till 3 AM and even then you'll still want to keep talking… right?"

"R-right…" said Sokka, slowing down. Toph didn't stop walking for him, though, and she sped her way towards her classroom. How she made her way through the school so easily while being blind, Sokka would never know…

But her words had sunk in on him. He frowned as he realized, again, that Azula and Gilded_Fire were one and the same. So while this meant Gilded_Fire had done quite a fair share of mean things to him, it also meant Azula had done nice things to him. They were one and the same, after all…

All those nights he had spent talking to her, showing her his favorite shows while she showed him hers, all the times he had accidentally spoiled her about stories, and she had sworn to take revenge for it, but never actually did… all those long conversations about favorite characters, possible alternate realities for this or that story, all those crazy ideas about crack ships… all of that had been Azula. The girl who had asked him to marry her, the one who teased him about being her 'hubby'…

He chuckled as he thought about all this. If he gave it proper thought, he hadn't been stood up at all. He had been waiting for that very special person, not knowing she had been right beside him all along.

He walked towards his locker, a frown on his face. She usually would leave the post-it by now… but as he opened it he found there was nothing foreign in it. No notes… nothing.

But he couldn't let the situation to remain unchanged. He wanted to fix things. He meant to fix things between them, one way or another. And even if he couldn't patch it up until they were what they used to be, at least he could make it so they wouldn't actively avoid one another from now on…

He frowned with determination as he opened one of his notebooks, ripping out one of the last pages and scribbling a note on it quickly. A note he slipped into her locker, for a change.

"Well, then, are you going to Jet's place today or not?" Ty Lee asked Azula a few hours later, as they filed towards the lockers after school was over. Azula sighed in annoyance.

"I don't think so," she retorted. "I don't feel like it, simple as that. Why do you have to keep drilling me on with the same thing, really?"

"Because it's not like you to pass on a party with Jet," said Ty Lee, pouting. "You two would make such a nice couple!"

"Yeah, sure," said Azula, grimacing as she reached out to open her locker. "Me, him and all the other girls in the school who have crushes on him, which seem to be about 90% of the girls in school, actually."

"B-but I mean it," said Ty Lee, pouting. "I thought you liked Jet…"

"I thought so too," said Azula, with a sigh before opening the locker. "But I guess I just don't really…"

She frowned when she saw the piece of folded paper atop her orderly books. Well, she was pretty sure she hadn't put that there… and she had a very bad feeling about who had.

She opened the note hastily, her desperation to look at it betraying just how important that seemingly simple paper was to her. Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a look of confusion before reading the note over Azula's shoulder.

_We've got to talk. Really. I know I don't want this to end like this, and I'm hoping neither do you. I'll be waiting for you at the gardens after school, if you're up for it._

There was no signature, but Azula didn't need one to know who had sent it.

"Ooooh!" Ty Lee exclaimed, looking at Azula with a sneaky smirk. "And what's this about, Azula?"

"It's nothing. Stop prying into someone else's business," Azula growled, closing her fist to rumple the note.

"But we're friends, I have every right to pry into your business!" Ty Lee said, crossing her arms over her chest. Azula huffed in irritation.

"Is this why you're not going to Jet's tonight?" Mai asked suddenly, and Azula stiffened. "Because you're meeting someone else?"

"Oh, oh, is it the boy from the other day?!" Ty Lee squeaked happily, at which Azula sighed. "I had no idea he was from our school."

_Me neither_, thought Azula, bitterly.

"Is that it, then?" Mai asked, and Azula groaned.

"It might be, so what?" she sighed. "Never mind. I've got my own problems to deal with, alright? I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Gee, she's blowing us off," said Ty Lee, offended now.

"Well, then, good luck with your mystery man," said Mai, shrugging. "We'll let you know if Jet's party is any use."

"No need to bother, it'll probably suck," said Azula, sighing before closing her locker again. She slung her bag over her shoulder and waved goodbye to her friends. "See you both tomorrow."

"You owe us a good explanation about that note, you know?!" Ty Lee exclaimed, but Azula was already on the move, and she didn't reply to her again.

She didn't know why she was going at all. She shouldn't go, simple as that… she didn't want problems, let alone with him, so she should just ignore his stupid note and go home. But instead, she was heading to meet him. Why? She didn't owe him any explanations… only, she did. And on some level, she wanted to give them to him, even though she had no idea how she'd explain herself at all. There were no excuses… there was no way to make him think she wasn't as bad as he already knew she was. There was only the truth… and at the very least, she could give him that.

She found him waiting for her outside, staring at a tree with apparent interest. His hands were in his pockets and he was fidgeting a little. Clearly, he was as uneasy about this as she was. Azula sighed heavily.

He heard the sound and turned on his heels. He looked at her, almost as though he was looking at her for the first time ever. On some level, Azula felt as though it was.

"You came," he muttered, and she shrugged.

"I'm not the kind of person to leave someone else waiting, despite what you might have thought," she replied, at which he gulped.

"Well… I thought you were two days ago, no kidding," he admitted. "But then you did leave me waiting later, I guess. You didn't answer me."

"How was I supposed to answer you?" Azula asked, skeptically, shaking her head and looking away from him. "What the hell did you think I'd say?"

"I don't know," said Sokka, shrugging. "What were you expecting to say to me now?"

"I figured I'd improvise depending on what you said," Azula answered earnestly, and he snorted.

"Figures," he muttered, sighing. "Well… I just want to understand, I suppose. Why, Azula?"

"Why what?" she asked him, frowning. "Why did I tease you and torment you through High School? Why was I friends with you online? Why was I playing an online game when I boast about having the most hectic social life ever?"

"Uh… yeah, basically," said Sokka, nodding, and Azula sighed again before rolling her eyes.

"Come on," she said, jerking her head at him and walking off through the gardens. He followed her closely, biting his lower lip as he feared this conversation might end badly…

They reached the greek amphitheater of the school, which was fortunately empty at the moment. Azula sat at one of the highest seating tiers, and Sokka took his place next to her. They were silent for a moment until she finally decided to talk, her back slumped as she placed her elbows on her knees.

"Well, then, I suppose I ought to start from the beginning," she said, at which he frowned. "Just… keep your mouth shut, alright?"

"I wasn't going to interrupt you, if that's what you…"

"I don't mean it that way," said Azula, frowning. "I'm saying… don't tell anyone about what I'm about to say. Especially not Zuko. I… I haven't said a word about this to anyone, not even to Mai and Ty Lee, but if I'm going to explain things to you, I'd better tell you the whole story, right?"

"Well… I guess," said Sokka, frowning. "But if you don't want to give away your secrets to me, then you don't really have to…"

"Heh. If there's someone I can give them away to, it's probably you," said Azula, sighing and shaking her head. "You've had my back for pretty much a year now, haven't you? Even if it was only in a game. I'd like to think it means that… that I can trust you."

Sokka gulped and nodded sternly.

"You can. I won't tell anyone about what you tell me, I promise," he said, and Azula sighed again.

"Alright, then… I'll just do it quick," said Azula, without meeting his gaze. "My mother's cheating on my father."

Sokka's eyes widened. His jaw dropped as he tried to find something to say, but both his disbelief and his fear of saying anything unhelpful kept him silent. And Azula took the chance to continue talking.

"It's been going on for quite a long time now," said Azula, biting her lower lip. "I found out when I was twelve. I was sent home from school, I had a fever… and when I was about to cross the street I realized there was a car parked in front of my house. I found it suspicious, and it was even more suspicious when I saw my mom leaving the house with some guy I'd never seen in my life. I wondered if maybe he was some technician, maybe. I didn't think we needed one, nothing in the house was broken, but it was an instinctive explanation… until he got on his car and I saw my mother leaning in to kiss him through the window."

Sokka grimaced, his teeth gritted. He had met Azula's mother a few times now, and he would have never expected to hear news like these about her. She seemed a decent woman, though he hardly knew her at all…

"Needless to say, there was no reason why she'd kiss a common technician, was there?" said Azula, with a sarcastic smile. "There was no reason for her to kiss anyone other than my father, and yet I saw it with my own eyes. She went inside the house as soon as he was gone, and I hid behind a light post in the street. Neither of them noticed me. I ended up not going into the house at all in the end. I didn't want to see my mother. I actually went to my dad's office instead… thinking I had to tell him about it. What else was I supposed to do, really? He deserved to know the truth. But in the end, I didn't tell him."

"Why?" asked Sokka, frowning.

"Well… because after he told me he'd take me home, because the fever was only going to get worse, I told him I didn't want to go. And then when I saw that look in his eyes, I knew he knew as well. He'd known about it. I don't know how he found out, but he knew"

"He knew?" Sokka said, looking at Azula in disbelief. "And… what did he do when he realized that you knew too?"

"The most surprising thing ever," said Azula, sighing and shaking her head. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Not a thing," said Azula. "He didn't confront her. He didn't say anything. He told her about my fever once he took me home, and when I refused to let her touch me I guess she also figured I knew… but heh, it made no difference to her either way. She didn't even try to explain things to me. She didn't bother lying, even, to cover up for it… nothing. They both continued to act naturally the rest of the day… and they've kept the act up to this day."

"Why the hell…?" said Sokka, frowning. "Alright, I don't get it. He doesn't care that she's cheated on him?"

"No, I think he cares. The problem is, it seems he cares too much," said Azula, biting her lip again. "It looks like he's incapable of cutting ties even when she's a lying, cheating bitch. He'd rather keep her around, and keep up the pretense that we're some ideal family when we've never even been close to that. It's as though he believed a divorce would be too much trouble. Honestly, I don't know why he's done nothing about it. Heck, for all I know, he's cheating on her all the same and that's why they're both fine with living in this lie. I can't understand why that's the case, really. How can someone turn a blind eye when you're betrayed by the person who swore loyalty and love to you forevermore? It's… it's stupid. It's revolting, no matter if they act as though it was meaningless.

"I just couldn't stand their pretense. I hated my mother for what she'd done, for what she's still doing, because I'm pretty sure her affair is still going strong… and I guess I also hated my father for not doing anything about it. For not having the guts to just reveal her for the whore she is. And I hated Zuko for being totally oblivious to everything despite how glaring obvious it is that something's seriously wrong in our family. And all those frustrations… they piled up inside me, and I had no way to unwind them. I could have just yelled at my mother about how she's a shameless slut, but alas, if I did, Zuko would have jumped out in her defense. I could have demanded an explanation from my dad about why he wouldn't do anything… but if this has been hurting me as much as it has, just how much pain is he enduring because of her? How unfair would it be for me to make it even worse on him?"

Sokka looked at her sympathetically as Azula closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"So I… ended up resorting to other ways to relieve myself from my frustrations. Ty Lee and Mai have been my friends since Primary School, and while I never explained what was bothering me to them, they tried quite hard to cheer me up. We ended up joining parties and nonsense of the sort because Ty Lee begged us to, and that helped me to keep my mind off my problems for a time… but then that incident at the beach happened, the one I told you about the other day. And it was just like adding salt to a fresh wound. It was almost the same thing my father's going through. Sure, in a smaller scale, but… I felt betrayed, and angered, and frustrated beyond belief. I just… I couldn't bear it. I couldn't escape from what I was trying to get away from, apparently. So I needed something else to help me keep my sanity, or else I would have blown up and either killed everyone around me or committed suicide, honestly…"

"That's just…" said Sokka, and Azula sighed.

"I know. I suppose it would have been too much, but I actually didn't think it was that much of a bad idea back then. Nevertheless, I started unwinding my frustrations through my bitterness. I realized I could hurt people with words. And while I did feel guilty about it, it also filled me with a certain satisfaction… because I just wanted the rest of the world to feel as miserable as I did. I hated my life. And I didn't know what to do with all those emotions… so I started taking them out on whoever I wanted to. Zuko was my primary victim for quite a long time, but eventually my mother started jumping to his defense because how could I be so mean to my brother…? Ugh. Well, she's never been a good mother to me. She's always babying Zuko and treating me like I'm some sort of freak… kind of amusing, though, considering she's the one who birthed me. If there's something wrong with me, there's probably something wrong with her all the same, huh? Must be an hereditary trait…"

"I don't think there's something wrong with you, though," said Sokka, looking at her coyly. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Weird that you'd say that considering everything I've just told you," she said. "But anyhow… that's why I started to pick on people at school. I never took it too far, because I didn't want the Principal to call my parents to let them know I was bothering people… but I couldn't stop doing it anyways. Inflicting damage was a stress release for me. And if I picked on Zuko at school, he'd be too embarrassed to tell mother… heh, even more embarrassed considering I would be picking on him in front of his friends. But then you started standing out more and more, and you defended my brother a couple of times… so I ended up wondering if maybe it'd be even more fun to torment you. Turns out it was.

"And… I knew it was wrong. I did feel guilty about it, whether or not it looked like it. But I couldn't keep myself from doing it. As I said, I just wanted to make someone feel as miserable as I did, no matter who it was. It felt like handing down my frustrations and getting them off my shoulders… only, it never really worked that way. Every day, as I returned home, I'd see my mother and I'd wonder if she had met her boyfriend that morning, while Zuko and I were at school and while my father was at work. And even though I didn't want to think about that at all, I couldn't stop myself from doing it.

"I kept going to parties just to spend less and less time at home. I'd go out with Mai and Ty Lee whenever I had the opportunity. And if I had to be home, I'd just lock myself in my room for hours on end to avoid seeing her. Well, mainly her, but I didn't want to see my father or Zuko either. Everything about our family had become so frustrating, so unnerving… I toyed with the idea of running away a couple of times, but I never did it. I couldn't figure out what I'd do or where I'd go if I tried, so I discarded the idea every time it came to me.

"In the end, I just didn't know what to do. I was losing my mind, and even picking on you wasn't enough after a while. I needed something else, another way to keep the poisonous situation from getting to me… and that's when I ended up losing myself in the world of online gaming. If my life was already a pretense, why not pretend I was some fearsome magician instead? It was way more fun than the bullshit I had to put up with on a daily basis…"

"So you were coping through gaming as well?" Sokka asked, looking at Azula intently.

"Yeah," said Azula. "And I ended up getting quite invested in it, way more than I expected to. I actually thought the effect of losing myself in the game would stop working after a while, that it wouldn't be enough eventually, just as it wasn't enough to pick on you and your friends. But it just so happened that I went on a quest to kill ten merrows at one of Gorias's lakes when some random warrior showed up asking me if I might want to help him slay a kelpie."

Sokka smiled for the first time in the day, it seemed, and so did Azula. She sighed and shook her head, looking at him sideways.

"I'd never played MMORPGs before this, to tell you the truth. And I'd hardly ever made any online friends… even if I'd met some people through the Internet, I'd hardly call them friends. But BoomerAwesome was undeniably interesting, despite how silly he seemed to be."

"Silly? And here I was hoping I'd have impressed you," he said, sighing, and Azula smiled again.

"You were around ten levels stronger than me back then, so I figured it was convenient for me to stick around you," Azula confessed, and Sokka scowled.

"So you're saying you were with me out of convenience?!" Sokka exclaimed, and she laughed.

"Well, yes. It's how it's always been," she confessed, at which he clutched his chest.

"Okay, then. Know that I'm hurt now, REALLY hurt," he said, and she kept laughing at that.

"You shouldn't be," said Azula, smiling. "I'm not just saying you were convenient company in the game… you were a convenient influence on me overall, for reasons I couldn't quite fathom. I mean, you never asked me any personal questions. You didn't make me think about the things I was trying to run away from. You were just… fun. And even though at first I just tagged along to chase down that Kelpie in hopes to get plenty of experience, I got a lot more out of it than that. Talking to you was fun, and fighting creatures with you was even more fun. When you had to take off for the night I was actually disappointed…"

"I remember," said Sokka, smiling fondly. "You asked me for my email, just to keep in touch so we could continue to play together… even though we were officially friends in the game already."

"I just did it to make sure I wasn't just pestering you, truth to be told," said Azula, shrugging. "If you'd blown me off, I would have known you didn't want anything to do with me and I wouldn't have annoyed you anymore. I just needed to know by then, so that I wouldn't waste my time getting attached to you in case you'd only wanted a partner for the day. But you gave me your address after all… and it was a shocker that you did. It felt pretty surreal for you to agree to that while only knowing me for a day."

"Heh, well, the whole situation has been surreal, Azula, and not just for you," said Sokka, stretching back.

"I suppose," said Azula, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"So I ended up being convenient to hang with, then?" he asked, with a smile. Azula rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"I was telling you earlier that I figured the game wouldn't be enough… and I'm pretty sure it would have gotten boring soon if I hadn't met you," Azula confessed. "Eventually I was simply looking forward to spending time with you, whether it was chatting or playing, or suffering because of your cruel fic recommendations…"

Sokka laughed at that, looking at her with some amusement.

"In the end, you became something I'd never thought I'd have. You were more than just an escape from reality for me. You were the most real friend I'd ever had. I… I could be myself around you, without any restraints, without pretending to be anything I wasn't. I entered Dannan thinking it was just another pretense, but it ended up being more real than anything else I'd ever felt until then. And yeah, I know saying that isn't much use nowadays. It doesn't invalidate all the crap I put you through. I have no problem admitting just how much I wronged you…"

"Hey… that's alright," said Sokka, smiling a little. "I never really thought you were going through any of what you just told me, so…"

"It's no excuse, though," said Azula, shaking her head. "An explanation, sure, but not an excuse. I… I shouldn't have said those things to you, any of them. And by the time I met BoomerAwesome, I should have stopped picking on you altogether… but I didn't because the frustrations still returned every time I logged off my computer. I even downloaded the chatting app on my phone so I could talk to you even if I wasn't home, in case I started feeling miserable again. And surprisingly enough, it worked. I didn't even know what the hell we talked about, but it never stopped being fun talking to you. Hours passed me by and they felt like instants… and you made my reality so much easier to take. But alas, you weren't online all the time, so whenever you weren't there I'd just wait and wait until you were… hence, yeah, you can call me a stalker if you want. I won't deny it anymore if you do"

"No, no…" said Sokka, chuckling. "I would have said you were a stalker if you'd known I was BoomerAwesome all along. But you had no idea until two days ago, clearly… and you'd be a pretty lousy stalker if you didn't discover Sokka and BoomerAwesome were the same person, right?"

"I suppose," said Azula, with a crooked smile.

"I'm just wondering, though… we've known each other online for about a year, right? But you still had your hectic social life going on, didn't you?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "How on earth did you play and party at the same time?"

"Well, I'd be looking at my phone through most the parties, if you most know," she confessed, shrugging. "I'd be somewhat involved with what was happening at first, but as soon as I figured my presence wasn't needed, I'd just pull out my phone to talk to you. And if the parties got really boring I'd just head home early so I could log into Dannan to kill things with you."

"Heh," said Sokka, chuckling. "Well, that explains things. I was wondering how you did it."

"Not that hard to accomplish, I'll confess," said Azula, smiling. "Parties do have a way to get old quick. You've gone to one, you've gone to all of them."

"And yet you kept teasing me about my lack of social life…" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. Azula sighed.

"If it's any consolation, I kind of envied you," she said. "If I hadn't joined the world of the popular ones back in junior high when Mai and Ty Lee dragged me into it, I'd be as much of a misfit as you and I wouldn't have to attend those stupid parties. Which would have allowed me more time to spend completing quests with you…"

"Well, that's flattering," said Sokka, smirking. "You'd rather spend time with me than with your fellow popular kids? That's unexpected."

"Didn't think the day would come when I'd say anything of the sort, did you?" said Azula, smiling a little. "To top it off, turns out I had more fun with you on Saturday than I did with any of the guys I've ever tried to go out with before. It's pretty ridiculous, considering how we were pretty convinced we had stood each other up…"

"When you think about it, it's really sad," said Sokka, laughing as she did as well. "I mean… what were the odds that we'd choose to meet in the exact same place, huh?"

"And that you'd be waiting for someone whose number you didn't have," she said, nodding. "I didn't have BoomerAwesome's number either… curious, huh?"

"In the end we had our date without even knowing if it was one," said Sokka, smiling while he blushed a little.

"It's shameful, really, that we didn't even consider we might be waiting for one another." said Azula, shaking her head. "Here I thought we were both smarter than that."

"Well, the smarter you are, the easier it is for you to ignore the obvious, it seems." said Sokka, at which Azula sighed.

"Seems like you're right," she muttered, as he smiled at her. "So… are you…?"

"What?"

"Well… satisfied, I guess," said Azula, shrugging. "Is this what you wanted to know?"

"Maybe," he said, smiling and standing up. "It's still pretty weird, though. I can't get used to it… Thinking you're Gilded Fire is still so weird."

"Tell me about it," said Azula, sighing and pushing herself up as well. "To think I was cheering up at the expenses of the same guy, only, in very different ways…"

"I never thought you were going through something like that, though," said Sokka, frowning. "Not Azula, nor Gilded Fire… you do know how to put on a show, if I must say so."

"If you must indeed," said Azula, as they started walking out of the amphitheater. "It's harder than it seems, if that makes you feel any better."

"Yeah, well, it actually doesn't," said Sokka, smiling a little at her. "Still… which one is the real you, huh? Gilded Fire or Azula?"

"Which one, you ask?" Azula repeated, with a raised eyebrow. "Well, that's one seriously stupid question, don't you think?"

"W-why would it be?" he said, an eyebrow twitching.

"Because both of them are the real me, Sokka," said Azula. "Saying Gilded Fire was just a pretense would be a denial of the only part of my life that has provided me with joy lately, and saying Azula isn't the real me would be a denial of myself as a whole. So as much as you probably like Gilded Fire better, it doesn't mean I'm not the girl who made you suffer all these years…"

"Also the girl who made me happy, though," said Sokka, at which she blushed. "It's pretty funny, really. You made me miserable, and then you cheered me up only about half an hour later. Heck, it's still so unbelievable that you're the girl I'd talk to until 3 AM…"

"Yeah, me of all people, huh?" said Azula, smirking a little. "Weird indeed."

"I wonder if I'll ever get used to that idea," said Sokka, as they exited the premises of the school. "Though I suppose our fun in Dannan is bound to change a bit, huh?"

"Why would it?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, since you know it's Sokka you're hanging with, you'll stop being so nice, right?" said Sokka.

"And since you know it's Azula you're hanging with, the gentleman treatment will be over, I take it?" said Azula, at which he chuckled.

"As if," he said. "I was a pretty nice guy last Saturday, wasn't I?"

"Oh, well, I'll give you that," Azula admitted, as they made their way through the streets. "Far too nice for what I expected from you, to be honest."

"You thought I'd be mean to you, then?" Sokka asked, and Azula sighed.

"Well, I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't have been. After everything I'd done to you…"

"Never mind that anymore," said Sokka, smiling at her. "Well, unless you decide that, despite our conversations and the latest revelations, you're still going to pick on me…"

"Maybe I ought to," said Azula, smirking, and Sokka gritted his teeth.

"Well, that's hardly fair," he grumbled, and she chuckled. "I don't mind you working out your frustrations on me, but since you've already discovered being friendly with me actually makes you happier, why don't you stick to that?"

"Just because you ask me to? Hmmm… should I really?" Azula asked, with a hand on her chin as she pretended to be deep in thought.

"Yeah, well, if you're actually sorry for everything you did to me, then yeah," said Sokka, pouting. Azula sighed.

"Well… for what it's worth, I am sorry indeed," she said, at which he looked at her in surprise. "I guess it's hard to believe, seeing how I've treated you all these years, but…"

"Not that hard to believe, after everything you told me," said Sokka, sighing. "It was way too easy to pretend you weren't human, you know? To think you were just evil and crazy, and that you basked in making the innocent suffer for no reason… so I guess I'm somewhat relieved to know there was a reason, after all."

"Yeah, well, you alone," said Azula, sighing. "I wish I'd done it for no reason. It'd be more fun if that were the case."

"Gee, woman. Maybe you can tone down the honesty a little bit," he said, at which she chuckled.

"In any case, if it's any consolation, I won't do it anymore," she muttered. "I suppose I've learned my lesson."

"The universe has its vicious ways to teach lessons to people, yeah," said Sokka, smiling a little. "To you, it taught you not to be cruel to people because they might be important people for you in the end! And to me… it taught me not to dream about being revived on the beach by pretty lifesavers, yeah."

Azula laughed at that as she realized they were walking towards the beach indeed. It was surprising that she wasn't unwilling to go to it anymore… but again, she blamed it on the company. Surely, if she was with Sokka, it wouldn't go as badly… or at least, she hoped so.

"So the universe wasn't making fun of you with this, then?" Azula asked.

"Oh, it was making fun of me indeed, but it didn't mean to teach me anything in the process," he said, chuckling. "Well, if anything, it might have taught me not to say cruel things to people, no matter how cruel they might be in turn. Because… well, I shouldn't have said that thing about guys in their right mind not being able to spend ten minutes with you. Because now you're convinced I'm not in my right mind because of what I said…"

"Truth to be told, I don't mind that you're not in your right mind," said Azula, smiling. "I guess that's what has made you interesting after all."

"What made me interesting, or what made BoomerAwesome interesting, huh, Gil?" Sokka asked, smirking.

Azula couldn't help but laugh when he used his nickname for her. They were walking through the street right next to the beach now.

"BoomerAwesome…" she repeated, smiling. "You know, I never asked because I didn't want to irritate you or anything, but why the hell is your username BoomerAwesome? I mean, it sounds like Bummer and Awesome… and that's almost an oxymoron. Is it you were trying to sound poetic or something? Because it's not really that poetic…"

"N-not bummer as in bummer!" Sokka squeaked, at which Azula laughed. "Boomer, as in BOOMERang!"

"What?" Azula said, staring at him in disbelief. "You chose that name because of boomerangs? Why, though, when you haven't had a single boomerang as your given weapon throughout all the time I've known you in the game?"

"Because I'm aiming for a big one," said Sokka, pouting. "They give it away at events at times, but I might end up having to buy it. Well, unless we join a marriage event where it's a reward! I mean, you did get your funky blue flame clothes thanks to me, so…"

"Oh, so you're saying I can't divorce you until we've gotten even on that? Drat, now my plans have been ruined…" said Azula, sighing dramatically and Sokka froze.

"Hey! W-what do you mean, divorce me?!" he exclaimed, at which she laughed before crossing the street towards the beach.

The sun was setting by now, which meant the beach was still somewhat crowded, but not so packed anymore. Azula climbed down the steps that led to the sand, and Sokka followed, still scowling.

"Well, what are we doing here? Is this where you're going to dump me officially, huh?" he asked, as Azula chuckled.

"Dump you, really…" she repeated. "I just figured I've been facing my problems today, so why not face the beach, too, as you wanted us to on Saturday? It actually might stop me from being affected by all the lousy things…"

"So you stop being affected by lousy things by telling your husband you're breaking up with him? Geez, woman…" he said, as she chuckled.

"Maybe I do," said Azula, smirking at him. "But maybe I don't. Truth to be told… I'm not dumping you, husband, unless you really want me to. Though I figured you'd want me to. It's quite surprising you're so against it."

"Well, it is quite convenient to be married to you, ehehe…" he said, at which she frowned.

"Oh, so now you're the one with me out of convenience. Isn't that wonderful?" she said, as he laughed.

"I'm just saying… I don't have an issue with staying married to you," he said, shrugging. "I mean… you are Gilded Fire, after all. And as much as it embarrasses me to admit it, I was beyond elated about being married to you…"

Azula stopped on her tracks, turning to look at him with confusion. Sokka smiled guiltily at her, his cheeks flushed before he turned to look at the sunset, trying to avoid her stare.

"You… you said you were in love with Gilded Fire," she asked him, and his blush grew more intense. "Hell… I hadn't thought about that until now."

"W-well, you said you might be in love with BoomerAwesome too, so if that's the case…!" he exclaimed.

They both froze as they realized what that meant. They looked at each other for a moment before they started laughing. Until now, the meaning of their discovery had evaded both of them… but now it seemed they were finally taking in the full picture.

Sokka smiled at her, still blushing a little. Azula couldn't quite meet his gaze at first, but eventually she did. Truth to be told, she hadn't known if she was in love with BoomerAwesome back when he had asked her the question… she had been resisting the feelings, afraid of what might happen if she succumbed to them. Love in books and movies looked all too pretty compared to the love she'd seen so far in real life. If what her parents had was love, then she sure didn't want to be in love with anyone.

But as she realized the man before her was the one she had been falling for all along, she wondered why she had resisted the feelings so much in the first place.

"Well… have your feelings changed, though?" she asked. "I… I wouldn't blame you if that were the case, of course. Not when it's me you've been dealing with…"

"You think they'd change that easily?" he asked, at which she blushed. "Well, sorry, Gil. I'm a bit of an idiot in love, so… I guess I can't help it."

He chuckled again at that, and Azula stared at him in disbelief. He couldn't possibly be serious…

"So, not even after discovering everything about me…" she muttered, and Sokka sighed.

"I did say I'd have to be one serious masochist to be in love with you, but it'd seem I am one," he said. "I mustn't be in my right mind, huh? But it turns out that… that everything you said today, and spending the day with you on Saturday, has changed everything I used to think about you. Yeah, you did tease and annoy me A LOT, and I'm not forgetting that. But… it's not like that's the only thing there is to you. There's more, always was, and… and I wouldn't mind discovering more about you, if you'd let me do it, of course."

Azula's breath hitched, and she looked at him with hopeful eyes. Her expression right now was such that Sokka could only move closer to her, placing a hand on her cheek as he smiled at her.

"So… I guess I'm crazy, yeah. But I…" he muttered, as she leaned in.

When she caught his lips with hers he closed his eyes instinctively, his hands holding her face in place as he returned the kiss, despite hardly knowing how to do it. She didn't seem to care about how inexperienced he was, though. She didn't pull away; if anything, she only moved closer to him.

She pulled away after a moment, a hand on his chest as he suddenly chuckled. She frowned and looked at him in confusion, finding he was smiling happily.

"What's with you?" she asked him, smiling as well, despite herself.

"I just can't believe I'm kissing you, Gil…" he said, pressing his forehead to hers. Azula's smile broadened at that.

"Maybe you need to do it again to believe it, then, Boom," she said, and she didn't need to say it twice. One of his hands went to the nape of her neck as he kissed her again, and she sighed blissfully into the contact between their lips, her heart drumming harder than ever in her chest.

They sat together on the beach as they watched the sun setting on the horizon, enjoying the sight and soothing sounds of the waves moving into the shore. Azula's head rested on Sokka's shoulder as he surrounded her waist with an arm. She couldn't stop smiling, never before having felt the comfort she did in this very moment. Everything that had ever haunted her paled and dimmed because he was here. Because he was with her…

"Well, no doubt this beats my last visit to the beach," he said, proudly, and she laughed, turning her face towards his neck.

"And mine. By far," she said, as he dropped on the sand, beaming at her. "Maybe the beach isn't such a lousy place for kissing after all."

"Hard to believe this is happening, honestly," he said, as she stretched down beside him, without even caring about the sand that would get attached to her clothes and hair. "It's going to be a blast to explain this to everyone…"

"It'd be an even bigger blast not to explain it," said Azula smirking maliciously. Sokka chuckled.

"When you put it that way… hell, this is just insane," he said, shaking his head as he laughed. "All my friends have been teasing me about Gilded Fire for ages, and…"

"You told them about me?" Azula asked, surprised.

"What, you didn't tell yours about me?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly.

"Well, I didn't say much," said Azula, smiling apologetically. "They knew I was meeting a guy I didn't know in person, but at most they must have guessed I'd pulled you out of a dating site, if anything."

"Huh," said Sokka, surprised as she chuckled.

"But you told yours about me," she said, amused. "What exactly did you say, then?"

"Nothing specific, really," said Sokka, smiling. "But I did tell them we got married…"

"Oh, fantastic," said Azula, smirking. "Zuko will pass out if he finds out you're his brother-in-law now."

"And you seem rather amused by the idea, huh, my mean wifey?" he asked, as she laughed again.

"Can you blame me? It's just hilarious to imagine his reaction," said Azula, beaming.

"But then… you don't mind if people find out?" Sokka asked, surprised. "I mean… we're together now, right? As in, really together? Actually together?"

"Well, so long as you agree to it, then yes," said Azula, smiling at him. Sokka blushed hard, but he gave her a goofy grin. "I'd think you don't even need to ask, really. We're married after all…"

Sokka chuckled at that, and she moved in to kiss him again. He surrounded her waist with his arms, although somewhat unsure of what he was doing. Just what was he allowed to touch…? Oh, well. He'd find out what the boundaries were eventually. If they would be together from now on, it meant there'd be a lot more kissing and caressing one another involved soon enough…

The thought just made his stomach flutter with joy. He could hardly believe he was happy to be with Azula, but he truly was. Never had anything felt so right in his life…

She climbed atop him, sprawling over him as she leaned down to kiss him again. Sokka responded to her advances, still uncertain but rather eager to carry on with this. Soon enough she had sought access into his mouth, and he had allowed her into it, a little reluctantly at first, but far more enthusiastically after getting used to the feeling. His arms still surrounded her as he kept her close, as he cherished everything about this surreal moment he was sharing with her…

Once it started getting too dark, they finally decided to head home. It took them a while to get the sand off their clothes and hair, but it was hard to be bothered by that when they couldn't stop smiling around one another. They made their way towards Azula's house, hands linked, fingers intertwined as she kept her head on his shoulder.

"So… you're not going to be embarrassed over letting everyone know you're dating me?" Sokka asked.

"Not at all. I'm sick of the partying already. If they decide to stop inviting me because I'm with you, I'll be more than pleased about it," said Azula, smiling. Sokka looked at her with surprise before smiling as well.

"And what about Mai and Ty Lee…?"

"I doubt they'll mind that much. Ty Lee thinks you're cute, after all, and Mai… Mai doesn't approve of anything anyways, so there's no point in worrying about what she'll say," said Azula, as they stopped at her house.

"So Ty Lee thinks I'm cute…? And what do you have to say about that?" he asked, reaching for her other hand to force her to face him before she could dodge his question, as he suspected she might.

Azula looked at him with narrow eyes as he smiled at her, waiting eagerly for her response.

"I think… you're an idiot," she said, kissing him again before he could protest to that "A good-looking one, but an idiot all the same."

"That's not very nice," he said, pouting as she chuckled.

"And here I thought you already knew I wasn't a nice person," she said, smiling. "You sure you know what you've gotten yourself into here, Sokka? I've actually never been in a serious relationship with anyone, and it's bound to be quite a rollercoaster…"

"Well, I like rollercoasters," said Sokka, smiling goofily and making Azula laugh. "So I'm thinking I'll like this one too. I don't think I can say, honestly, that I know what I've gotten myself into… but that's not going to stop me. We've overcome everything we've faced together so far, haven't we, Gil?"

"True," she said, as he held her by the waist again. "So… we're pulling through with this quest too?"

"Yep," he said, smiling. "We might even get a new skill once we're done with it, you never know!"

Azula chuckled at that before dropping her head on his shoulder again, her body pressed against his. He kissed the top of her head and she nuzzled his neck, holding him tight, as though she refused to let go.

"Ah, can't we just stay out here all night?" she muttered, kissing him softly. "I really wouldn't mind staying with you…"

"We could catch a cold by staying on the street, though," said Sokka, sighing. "Wanna go to my place instead? I have ice cream!"

Azula laughed at how innocently he lined his proposal. He beamed at her, and she leaned in to kiss him again, not knowing how else to respond to his suggestion. Sokka's hand slipped through her hair now as he kissed her more deeply, prompting her to moan softly. It seemed he was getting the hang of this…

The sound of an opening door startled the pair of them. Sokka looked over Azula's head while she turned… and he grimaced when he saw who had just walked out the door of Azula's family home, carrying black trash bags in his hands.

"W-what the…?" said Zuko, frowning as his head tried to process what he was seeing. Soon enough it seemed he made the math, and the expression on his face soon shifted into utter panic. "A-Azu… SOKKA?!"

Sokka's face grew redder than Azula had ever seen it before. But she didn't let her brother's interruption fluster her. She sighed dramatically as Sokka started mumbling nonsense, trying to appease Zuko somehow.

"A-ah, I… uh… well, you see… ehehe…" he said, as Zuko stared at him with disbelief and horror.

"Oh, well," said Azula. "I'll have to take you up on that offer for ice cream some other day, then, husband. See you tomorrow."

With that, she reached up to kiss him again, and while Sokka was still panicking over Zuko's realization, he still kissed her back, if only briefly. And of course, the sight of them kissing, no matter how chaste it was, caused Zuko to drop his trash bags and fall on the ground, still completely horrified.

"W-what the hell?!" he shouted, as Azula passed him by on her way into her house.

"Oh, come on, Zuzu. Stop making such a fuss," she said. Sokka smiled uncomfortably at what she'd said and started to walk away from the house as inconspicuously as possible.

"B-but you just…! Sokka!" Zuko exclaimed, and that was Sokka's cue to break into a full sprint to get away from his friend. "Get back here and explain this right now! SOKKA!"

"Uh, Zuko," Azula said, stopping at the house's threshold. "You dropped all the garbage, in case you didn't notice."

Zuko turned to look at her in dismay before realizing she was right. Azula smirked as she entered the house, and Zuko was left sitting halfway to the street, still completely dumbfounded as he tried to process what he had just witnessed…

School on the next day wasn't a dreaded event this time around for either Sokka or Azula. In fact, they both looked forward to it. They had spent the rest of the evening chatting, as ever, but this time it had been different. This time they had talked at total ease and leisure, being more honest with each other than they'd been until then. When they logged into Dannan their fighting was more compatible than ever.

Saying good night took longer than usual, even though it always took them a while anyways. But they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces, looking forward to meeting again tomorrow.

Zuko spent the whole morning treating Azula as if she was some sort of alien life-form, keeping his distance and looking at her warily. Half the time it seemed he was about to say something to her, but he never did. But Azula couldn't have cared less for his treatment of her. She was far too elated about her new relationship to mind his reaction to it. If he had something to say or ask her, he could just do it… of course, she probably wouldn't give him a good answer, but at least that way he might start scowling and fuming around her again, as was normal, instead of treating her like she had sprouted a second head or something of the sort.

She headed towards her locker right away, pleased to get away from Zuko as she gathered her books for the day. She noticed Mai and Ty Lee a few cases from hers, and she walked to them, with raised eyebrows.

"It would seem it was a lousy party, huh?" she asked. "You two look like you rested all too well…"

"It could have been better," Mai admitted, sighing. "You look rather cheerful today instead, though. You're even starting conversations… what's with you?"

"Yeah, Mai's right," said Ty Lee, frowning. "Did something good happen, Azula?"

"Uh… huh?" said Azula, not expecting her friends to read her so easily.

"Oooh, look at her, something good happened indeed," said Ty Lee, smirking. "Do tell, do tell, what's the story? Is it about the boy from the other day, huh?"

Azula's eyebrow twitched as she regretted approaching her friends now. She huffed and rubbed her temples, trying to find a way to blow them off without seeming rude, just as Sokka and his sister entered the locker area.

"Really, though, you were miserable yesterday and today you're all smiles?" Katara said, frowning. "What's with you? Your mood swings are worse than those of a pregnant woman…"

"Hey, that's insulting," Sokka declared, pouting, but still unable to hide his good mood.

"What's going on?" Aang asked Katara, approaching her with curiosity. "Is something the matter with Sokka?"

"Apparently," said Katara, frowning. "I don't know what it is, though. The fool hasn't told me."

"Heh, well, knowing Sokka it's probably something silly," said Aang, chuckling.

"Yeah, it better be. I do hope it's not that he's started sexting that girl or something…" said Katara, sighing, and Aang grimaced.

"I doubt that…"

Sokka would have replied to that, but he was too busy looking through the swarms of students to pay attention to what they were saying. His eyes scanned the crowd until he finally spotted her, with Mai and Ty Lee. She looked uneasy for some reason, but as she grimaced, her gaze locked with his.

He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back, something her friends noticed. But before they could ask any questions, Sokka started cutting through the crowds of students between them, eager to reach her.

Azula could have sworn her heart was about to burst from her chest when he finally got to where she was to kiss her passionately. Her hand went to the back of his head as she returned his affections without a care in the world, knowing they were being watched by far too many other people… ah, but it didn't matter. Not right now. Not while she was kissing him…

"Morning," he said, smiling at her as he pulled away. Azula smiled as well and patted his chest.

"Morning indeed," she replied. The bell signaling the beginning of the classes rang, so their reunion was cut short right then and there. Nevertheless, he kissed her brow before pulling away definitively, smiling gently at her and caressing her cheek before walking off to his own class.

"Have a nice day, Gil," he whispered, and she chuckled as he left, his head held high as he walked through the halls with the biggest grin anyone had seen on his face until today.

"A-A-A…" Ty Lee said, her eyes wide open. "Azula…?"

"What in the name of…?" said Mai, staring at Azula in utter disbelief, which was quite a rare expression to see on her face.

Azula smirked and shrugged before walking off to her own class, trying not to seem too happy about what had just happened. Everyone nearby was staring at her, and she knew they would soon start talking… but ah, they could talk away if they wanted to. She didn't care at all. She didn't owe anyone an explanation. Not when she was in love with him as she was.

Only, the entire school wanted an explanation. The newest couple in town was probably the strangest, least expected combination they could have imagined, and nobody understood how it had happened. Why had the most popular girl started dating the nerdy boy she had always picked on…?

And of course, the ones who needed an explanation the most were Sokka's friends, who didn't stop interrogating him through lunch. All he could do was smile happily, not really caring about what they were saying.

"Y-you actually kissed her in front of half the school, you nutjob…?" Zuko kept repeating, having missed out on the scene by the lockers because he had already taken off to class.

"We saw it with our own eyes," said Aang, still shocked about it. "So yeah. He did."

"That's bloody creepy," said Toph, frowning. "Why the hell did you kiss her of all people, huh, Sokka?"

"The weirdest part is that she kissed him back, if you ask me," grunted Katara, an eyebrow twitching. "What the hell, Sokka, seriously?! I'd ask what happened, or how it happened, but… I'm afraid I might not want to know."

"Oh, come on, don't make it sound so bad," said Sokka, chuckling. "There's nothing wrong with it! I'm with Azula now, yeah, I figure it's a big surprise… but what's so bad about it?"

"What's so bad?!" Katara exclaimed, aghast. "She's the girl who has been annoying all of us ever since we got to High School, remember?"

"For fuck's sake, she's my sister!" Zuko said, huffing in irritation. "C-couldn't you at least ask…?"

"What, for your permission to court her, oh big brother Zuko?" Sokka asked, dramatically. "Yeah, no."

"Fuck it, you even sound like her now," said Zuko dropping his head on the table and hitting himself with it repeatedly.

"Nah, she would've called you Zuzu, right?" said Sokka, smiling.

"And last we knew, she called you Sucker," said Suki, raising an eyebrow. "You're not Sucker anymore, then?"

"Nope" said Sokka, smiling.

"Well, if only she were a guy I'd say Sokka is still Sucker, because now he's sucking her co-…" Toph started, but Zuko slammed a fist on the table and snarled at her. "Okay, okay, I said if she were a guy, but she's not, so I guess he's just sucking on her t-…"

"Shut UP!" Zuko exclaimed, exasperated.

"N-no need to worry, nothing of the sort has happened," said Sokka, gulping, before muttering: "Yet."

"What was that?!"

"What was what?" he said, smiling innocently as Zuko glared at him like an angry bull.

"I just can't make sense out of why she'd do this all of sudden," said Katara, shaking her head. "She'd never showed any interest in Sokka like this."

"Well, maybe she's the type who treats guys badly when she likes them?" asked Aang, shrugging.

"Uh… then she's into all of us?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows. "Because the last time I checked, he was her favorite victim, but we weren't lagging too far behind."

"Then maybe she's plotting a conspiracy of sorts," said Suki, raising her eyebrows. "For all we know, she might be doing this so she can be free to sit at this table from now on, since she's Sokka's girlfriend now…"

"Ahahaha, yeah, no."

Everyone at the table jumped upon the sound of her voice. Azula smirked at them, standing behind Sokka and placing a hand on his shoulder as she looked at the rest of them with her usual superiority.

"I'll keep on sitting with my own friends. I figure we should still give proper attention to our own social circles, right, darling?" she asked Sokka mockingly, at which he raised an eyebrow as he stretched his head back to look up at her.

"Ah, well, that's really thoughtful of you," he said, smiling. "Our bond is too strong to be broken off if we don't spend every waking moment together, then?"

"You know it," she said, smiling at him again before leaning down to kiss him.

And now Zuko paled as he stared at them in disbelief, a hand flying to his mouth as he held back the urge to vomit. Aang, Katara and Suki moved away from them, grimacing while Toph frowned, gulping.

"She's sticking her tongue down his throat, isn't she? T-that's why no one's talking anymore, right?"

"Yeah," Katara replied, weakly.

"Ew," said Toph, as Azula tore away from Sokka, patting his head before walking away with a pleased grin on her face.

And Sokka turned back towards the rest of his friends with that goofy large smile on his face again, hardly noticing they were staring at him in utter disgust.

"S-Sokka… what the hell?" said Katara, looking at him pleadingly. "P-please, say it's not for real… you're just mocking around, both of you…"

"Like hell I'll say that," he said, smiling proudly. "It's for real alright. And I regret nothing about it!"

More questions of disbelief arose, but Sokka didn't mind answering them. He was too elated to care… until Aang just decided to ask the one question he had needed to in order to unveil the true explanation of what was happening between Sokka and Azula.

"B-but just a moment, now. What about Gilded Fire?" he asked, frowning. "You said you'd met her… and hell, you're married to her, right? S-so you can't be with her and Azula at the same time! Right?!"

"I'd love to point out that's not much of an argument, but in this case, I'd rather not," said Katara, gulping. "That's right, then, you can't be in a relationship with two girls at the same time! You'd be cheating on Azula!"

Sokka frowned for what seemed to be the first time of the day when he heard those words. Everyone else was surprised by how serious he seemed to be as he shook his head sternly.

"I'm not cheating on either of them. And I'd never do that to Azula," he declared, firmly.

"But see, Sokka…" Toph started. "If you're married to this girl, and Azula's your girlfriend, then you're cheating. That's how it works, dude."

"Not really," said Sokka, shrugging and smiling. "Pretty hard to cheat on one girl, if you get what I mean."

"Eh… huh?" said Aang, raising an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're saying there are two girls," Sokka stated, smiling. "I'm letting you know there's only one. I can't cheat on Azula by being with Gilded Fire, or vice versa. Get it yet?"

It took a moment for the information to sink in, and the looks of utter disbelief on the table only grew more accentuated as Sokka smirked with satisfaction. Zuko, who had been at the verge of a nervous breakdown, was looking at Sokka now with wide eyes.

"Y-you're saying… a-all along, that Gilded Fire chick was… my sister?!" he exclaimed.

"So yeah, now I'm sorry I didn't invite you guys to the wedding," said Sokka, chuckling. "But don't worry! I won't forget to invite you to the real life one!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Zuko exclaimed, enraged while Sokka laughed heartily.

Sokka had never known what it felt like to be a sensation around school. Most the time he'd be ignored, and he only ever caught the public eye back whenever he had his arguments with Azula while other people were nearby. But today, every pair of eyes seemed to settle on him. And while he never thought he'd be too comfortable about that, somehow it was just refreshing today.

Even his teachers seemed to treat him differently today, but that might have only been because of the foolish grin on his face. Nevertheless, he listened to every class intently, or tried to, at least, for his head was in the clouds during most of the lectures. All he could think about right now was Azula…

He was really eager for the last class of the day to end, and when it finally did he was happy to wait for Azula at the school's entrance. People passed him by, again most of them looking at him with confusion, and he only smiled at them as he waited patiently. Soon enough, the girl he had been waiting for showed up, accompanied by her two friends.

"Eh, hey there, cutie," said Ty Lee, smiling weakly at him before glancing back at her friend. "See you tomorrow, Azula."

"Sure," Azula replied, as Ty Lee clung onto Mai's arm and led her away without another word, both of them knowing it was better to leave those two alone right now.

Sokka smiled happily at Azula, who gave him an earnest smile she didn't know she reserved just for him nowadays. He offered her his hand without a word, and she took it in hers before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"Had fun today, Boom?" she asked him, as they made their way through the school's entrance.

"Oh, yeah. Did I tell you, Gil, that I've got a girlfriend now?" he asked, smiling.

"Well, isn't that curious. I have a boyfriend too," she said. "He's that silly guy I told you I was picking on, remember? The one you'd teach a lesson to?"

"Oh, crap," said Sokka, chuckling as Azula laughed as well. "What sort of lesson am I supposed to teach myself?"

"You'll have to figure that out yourself, hubby," she told him. "I'm not going to do it for you."

"Ah, well, I can deal with that," he said, chuckling still. "Ah, what a weird day. Everyone kept looking at me wherever I went. Is this what it feels like to be you, huh?"

"Maybe," said Azula, smirking. "But you'll get used to it. In fact, they'll stop looking at you when they find something else to talk about. And they always find something else to talk about."

"Well, then," said Sokka, smiling. "I suppose I'll just enjoy the attention while it lasts. But that's really not the important thing after all, so no need to worry about it, right?"

"Not at all," said Azula, placing her head on his shoulder, as usual. Sokka smiled.

"So… what are we going to do today?" he asked, eagerly. "Any plans yet, or should we improvise?"

"Well…" said Azula, frowning as she tapped her chin with the index finger of her free hand. Sokka's arm went around her shoulders as he kept her close. "I actually have a pretty good idea right now."

"You do?" Sokka asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. I know it's really far from where we were last, but I think heading to the Mountains of Fraggeas might be a good idea," Azula said, smiling, and Sokka laughed.

"Oh, you think?" he asked her, amused.

"Well, yes," she said. "I think the creatures over there are a bit stronger than us, but we'll rise through the levels without a problem if we fight them together, don't you think?"

"Of course," said Sokka, chuckling. "But what if they're holding the event where I can get the Meteorite Boomerang I want, huh? If they're doing that, can we go do that instead?"

"Eh?" said Azula, sighing with feigned disinterest.

"Come on," said Sokka, pinching her nose as she laughed. "You said you'd do it!"

"I said I'd divorce you, that's what I said, in case you forgot," she said, laughing as she pressed against him. Sokka rolled his eyes but smiled regardless. "Ah, fine. But if they're not giving away your Boomerang, we're off to the mountains, okay? It's a good training spot."

"As you wish, wifey," he said, making her smile gently at him. "Really, though… I expected you to suggest something we could do in person. But alas, you're Gil after all…"

"I am," said Azula, smiling. "But if you really want us to hang out together, and not just online, we can go over to your place. We can stop by at my house first to pick up my laptop and then play at your house. You did offer me ice cream yesterday, so…"

"Oh, I did, I did. And the offer's still available!" he exclaimed, at which Azula laughed again. "Ah… you've got to be the best wife, really."

"You think?" Azula asked him, looking up at him with a weak smile.

Sokka smiled more before leaning in to kiss her softly, a hand on her neck as she caressed his chest. Azula pressed against him again as they kept walking, his arm draped around her waist.

"You're really getting better at this," she said, smiling.

"Eh, well, I am a quick learner, after all," he said proudly, and Azula laughed.

"Lucky me, huh?" she said, as he leaned down to kiss her again.

Every new exchange was better than the next, as it always was between them. Every new time they met in Dannan they had been left longing for more. And now they had so much more than they had expected to ever find in one another…

High school sucked. Or at least, that was what most people thought.

But for Sokka, his high school days were about to become brighter than he ever imagined they'd be.


End file.
